Isotope-based methods provide valuable tools for identifying plant water sources. However, it is usually hard to fully meet the assumptions of a conventional mixing model, which made the results less reliable. For example, it is almost impossible to collect all potential water sources samples especially when root distribution is unknown, and sometimes potential water sources could be isotopically indistinguishable.
So my question is how can we more accurately identify plant water sources with isotopes? maybe some new techniques related to isotopes? or a combination use of multidisciplinary methods?
Thank you so much for your replies and discussion~
Best,
Qin
张老师您好，谢谢您的回答。通过同位素混合模型计算不同水源的贡献确实为判别水分来源提供了很好的途径，也是当前应用最普遍的方法。实际应用中，同时实现①采集到所有潜在水源；②各个水源之间同位素组成差异明显 这两个条件存在一定难度，为基于同位素混合模型判别植物水源带来了较大的不确定性。我的疑问是如何尽可能地减少这种不确定性，同时又能“量化”这个水源比例或者总的水分利用模式？类似于这种思想 Quantifying new water fractions and transit time distributions using ensemble hydrograph separation: theory and benchmark tests (James Kirchner, 2019, HESS)。提问的初衷是想要集思广益，看看大家都怎么想的。
祝好！
刘琴
