Abstract: The growth and distribution of plants are closely associated with the water availability conditions.The study of plant water use strategies will help to better understand the plant eco-hydrological processes and the response of ecosystem to environmental water.This paper systematically exponded the common methods of plant water source research and the advantages and limitations of different methods, introduced the principle, methods and uncertainty of judging plant water source by stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope technology, and discussed the effects of season, precipitation, habitat, plant type and growth stage on plant water use strategies.Those could provide the latest research progress of current plant water use strategies and scientific reference for the study of plant water source.The current water source research methods still had some limitations by comparing their advantages and disadvantages.The focus of future research was to use stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope technology combined with other physical and chemical properties of plants and other water source research methods to deeply and longitudinally study plant water use strategies.