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Elevated CO2 increases intrinsic water use efficiency ( WUE i) of forests, but the magnitude of this effect and its interaction with climate is still poorly understood., We combined tree ring analysis with isotope measurements at three Free Air CO2 Enrichment ( FACE, POP- EUROFACE, in Italy; Duke FACE in North Carolina and ORNL in Tennessee, USA) sites, to cover the entire life of the trees. We used δ13C to assess carbon isotope discrimination and changes in water-use efficiency, while direct CO2 effects on stomatal conductance were explored using δ18O as a proxy., Across all the sites, elevated CO2 increased 13C-derived water-use efficiency on average by 73% for Liquidambar styraciflua, 77% for Pinus taeda and 75% for Populus sp., but through different ecophysiological mechanisms., Our findings provide a robust means of predicting water-use efficiency responses from a variety of tree species exposed to variable environmental conditions over time, and species-specific relationships that can help modelling elevated CO2 and climate impacts on forest productivity, carbon and water balances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcanic eruptions impact the global and the hemispheric climate, but it is still unknown how and to what degree they force the climate system and in particular the global carbon cycle. In this paper, the relationships between individual eruptions (reconstructed for the past using written records), tree primary productivity (estimated using ring widths), photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance (assessed by carbon and oxygen isotope data) are investigated, to understand the impact of volcanic eruptions on net primary production. Data from a mixed stand of Fagus sylvatica L. and Acer pseudoplatanus L. located in the area of the Vesuvio volcanic complex (Southern Italy) showed a significant decrease in ring width following each eruption. Isotope analyses indicate a change in climatic conditions after such events. Specifically, the lower oxygen isotope ratio in the tree-ring cellulose strongly suggests an increase in relative humidity and a decrease in temperature, with the latter resulting in a strong limitation to tree-ring growth. The carbon isotope ratio was only moderately but not significantly reduced in the years of volcanic eruption, suggesting no major changes in C fixation rates. This work is a case study on the effects of volcanic eruptions resulting in strong climatic changes on the local scale. This is an opportunity to explore the process and causal relationships between climatic changes and the response of the vegetation. Thus, we propose here a realistic model scenario, from which we can extrapolate to global scales and improve our interpretations of results of global studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]