Lipid molecules of JPH4,MildredandMcMurray peat core samples fromthe Athabasca region ofnorthern Alberta, were systematically analyzed in order to improve the understanding of the relationship between peat lipid distribution and its response to the vegetation evolution and climate change. In accordance with the analysis results of n- alkanes, n- alkan- 2- ones, steroids, terpenoids and other molecular compounds, combined with chronological data, the paleoclimatic evolution in the study area in the past millennium has been reconstructed.In the modern Recent Warming (since 1990cal AD), Sphagnum fuscum developed widely in theAthabasca region under warm and dry climate.In the early Recent Warming,terrestrial plants and S. cuspidata species coexisted in the peatland with periods of dry- humid oscillations observed from 1900 to 1990 cal AD.As Little Ice Age period canbe dated in the JPH4 core, the climate became cold and dry after1560 cal AD when C 27 - dominated vascular plantsaccumulated in the JPH4 core. These conclusions are consistent with theinformation documented in local hydrological and paleoclimate data. Sphagnum fuscum ,which favors dry conditions and has C 31 n - alkane dominant distribution,is a special planttype of Sphagnum sect. Acutifolia , ACL,P aq ,C 23 /（C 27 +C 31 ） n - alkane proxies are optimally selected to interpretpaleoclimate alternations recorded by different types of peat- formingplants. In the representative Mildred peat core, microbial oxidation of related n - alkanes is the primary source of n - alkan- 2- one. CPI- ket,ACL- ketand(K 23 +K 25 )/(K 27 +K 29 +K 31 ) n - alkan- 2- one are useful proxies to record paleoclimate variations during peat deposition.The abundance of steroids and terpenoids is significantly higher than that of linear- chain acyclic compounds, proxies of γ - lactone/tocopherols; C 29 sterone/C 29 sterol, sterol/steroids are preliminarilyapplied to indicate regional dry- wet and cold- warm changes in the study area, and microbial alternationmay be a factor affecting these proxies.