Abstract: Stable carbon isotope analysis is a rapid and reliable technique developed in recent years,and has been widely applied to reconstruct the sequences of atmospheric CO₂ concentration changes,clarify the hysteresis effect and junior effect of temperature and precipitation on tree growth,and distinguish the distributions of plants with different photosynthetic pathways.The water use efficiency (WUE) of different plant functional groups and the variations of plant WUE with tempo-spatial and climatic changes can be also indicated by determining plant carbon isotope composition.In this paper,the effects of environmental factors,e.g.,atmospheric CO₂ concentration,airtemperature, precipitation,and altitude on terrestrial plant carbon isotope composition were discussed,and the advances and applications of carbon isotope technique in global change research were summarized.Furthermore,the existing and disputed problems in carbon isotope analysis were discussed,and the future trends of carbon isotope technique in global change research were prospected,aimed to widen people’s knowledge and promote the development of this technique.

Key words: Suffolk sheep, Polled Dosert sheep, Ecological adaptability, Hybrid