Photosynthetica 2025, 63(1):51-63 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2025.006

Response of leaf internal CO2 concentration and intrinsic water-use efficiency in Norway spruce to century-long gradual CO2 elevation

J. ŠANTRŮČEK1, J. KUBÁSEK1, J. JANOVÁ1, H. ŠANTRŮČKOVÁ1, J. ALTMAN2, 3, J. TUMAJER4, 5, M. HRÁDKOVÁ1, 2, E. CIENCIALA4
1 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Botany, AS CR, Zámek 1, 252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic
3 Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic
4 IFER - Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research, Čs. armády 655, 254 01 Jílové u Prahy, Czech Republic
5 Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, 12843 Prague, Czech Republic

The strategies of Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration (Ca) are not entirely clear. Here, we reconstructed centennial trajectories of leaf internal CO2 concentration (Ci) and intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi) from the amount of 13C in tree-ring cellulose. We collected 57 cores across elevations, soil, and atmospheric conditions in central Europe. Generally, WUEi and Ci increased over the last 100 years and the Ci/Ca ratio remained almost constant. However, two groups were distinguished. The first group showed a quasi-linear response to Ca and the sensitivity of Ci to Ca (s = dCi/dCa) ranged from 0 to 1. Trees in the second group showed nonmonotonic responses with extremes during the peak of industrial air pollution in the 1980s and s increase from -1 to +1.6. Our study shows a marked attenuation of the rise in WUEi during the 20th century leading to invariant WUEi in recent decades.

Additional key words: carbon dioxide enrichment; photosynthesis; Picea abies; stable carbon isotopes; tree rings; water-use efficiency.

Received: October 1, 2024; Revised: January 29, 2025; Accepted: February 10, 2025; Prepublished online: March 13, 2025; Published: March 27, 2025  Show citation

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ŠANTRŮČEK, J., KUBÁSEK, J., JANOVÁ, J., ŠANTRŮČKOVÁ, H., ALTMAN, J., TUMAJER, J., HRÁDKOVÁ, M., & CIENCIALA, E. (2025). Response of leaf internal CO2 concentration and intrinsic water-use efficiency in Norway spruce to century-long gradual CO2 elevation. Photosynthetica, 63(1), 51-63. doi: 10.32615/ps.2025.006
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