We report the results of a comparative study of n-alkane biomarkers and pollens in lacustrine and peat deposits at Dingnan, Jiangxi Province in southern China, and discuss the likely causes for the dis-crepancy in the interpretations of the n-alkane biomarker and pollen records in terms of climate and vegetation change. The results show that past changes in climate and vegetation revealed by the n-alkane record are not always consistent with the pollen assemblage record in the whole section. Biomarkers do not permit direct identification of the plant family and/or genus and mainly record compositions of local plant remains, while pollens mainly reflect the regional vegetation change. Bio-markers and pollen records complement each other, providing a better picture of local and regional environments. Furthermore, biomarkers are more sensitive than pollen to climatic and vegetational change. Several climatic events are clearly identified by the n-alkane biomarker proxies, such as C31/(C27+C29+C 31) ratio and can be correlated to the North Atlantic Heinrich event, B/A, YD and two dry-cool events during the early Holocene such as the periods of 9850 to 9585 cal a B.P. and 8590 to 7920 cal a B.P. These events are consistent with those found in the surrounding regions, suggesting that the regional climate was coupled with global-scale abrupt climatic events. Our results suggest that biomarker and pollen data can record the more detailed climate and vegetation information, thus im-proving the resolution and precision of vegetation and climate reconstruction. We report the results of a comparative study of n-alkane biomarkers and pollens in lacustrine and peat deposits at Dingnan, Jiangxi Province in southern China, and discuss the likely causes for the dis-crepancy in the interpretations of the n-alkane biomarker and pollen records in terms of climate and vegetation change. The results show that past changes in climate and vegetation revealed by the n-alkane record are not always consistent with the pollen assemblage record in the whole section. Biomarkers do not permit direct identification of the plant family and / or genus and mainly record compositions of local plant remains, while pollens mainly reflect the regional vegetation change. Bio-markers and pollen records complement each other, providing a better picture of local and regional environments. to climatic and vegetational change. Several climatic events are clearly identified by the n-alkane biomarker proxies, such as C31 / (C27 + C29 + C 31) ratio and can be correlated to the North Atlantic Heinrich event, B / A, YD and two dry-cool events during the early Holocene such as the periods of 9850 to 9585 cal a BP and 8590 to 7920 cal a BP These events are consistent with those found in the surrounding regions, suggesting that the regional climate was coupled with global-scale abrupt climatic events. Our results suggest that biomarker and pollen data can record the more detailed climate and vegetation information, thus im-proving the resolution and precision of vegetation and climate reconstruction.