The hydrogen isotope composition of plant leaf wax (δDwax) has been found to record the isotope composition of precipitation (δDp). Hence, δDwax is increasingly used for palaeohydrological reconstruction. δDwax is, however, also affected by secondary factors, such as vegetation type, evapotranspiration and environmental conditions, complicating its direct application as a quantitative palaeohydrological proxy. Here, we present δDwax data from soils along vegetation gradients and climatic transects in southern Africa to
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