Overestimated gains in water-use efficiency by global forests

Increases in terrestrial water use efficiency (WUE) have been reported in many studies, pointing to potential changes in physiological forcing of global carbon and hydrological cycles. However, gains in WUE are of uncertain magnitude over longer (i.e. >10 years) periods of time largely owing to difficulties in accounting for structural and physiological acclimation. 13C signatures (i.e., δ13C) of plant organic matter have long been used to estimate WUE at temporal scales ranging from days to centuries. Mesophyll conductance is a key uncertainty in estimated WUE owing to its influence on diffusion of CO2 to sites of carboxylation. Here we apply new knowledge of mesophyll conductance to 464 δ13C chronologies in tree-rings of 143 species spanning global biomes. Adjusted for mesophyll conductance, gains in WUE during the 20th century (0.15 ppm y-1) were considerably smaller than those estimated from conventional modelling (0.26 ppm y-1). Across the globe, mean sensitivity of WUE to atmos...