摘要：Leaf wax δD n -alkane values have shown to differ significantly among plant life forms (e.g., among grasses, shrubs, and trees) in higher plants. However, the underlying causes for the differences in leaf wax δD n -alkane values among different plant life forms remain poorly understood. In this study, we observed that leaf wax δD n -alkane values between major high plant lineages (eudicots versus monocots) differed significantly under the same environmental conditions. Such a difference primarily inherited from different hydrogen biosynthetic fractionations (εwax-lw). Based upon a reanalysis of the available leaf wax δD n -alkane dataset from modern plants in the Northern Hemisphere, we discovered that the apparent hydrogen fractionation factor (εwax-p) between leaf wax δD n -alkane values of major angiosperm lineages and precipitation δD values exhibited distinguishable distribution patterns at a global scale, with an average of −140‰ for monocotyledonous species, −107‰ for dicotyledonous species. Additionally, variations of leaf wax δD n -alkane values and the εwax-p values in gymnosperms are similar to those of dicotyledonous species. Therefore, the data let us believe that biological factors inherited from plant taxonomies have a significant effect on controlling leaf wax δD n -alkane values in higher plants.
