Contrasting impact of extreme soil and atmospheric dryness on the functioning of trees and forests.

Recent studies indicate an increase in the frequency of extreme compound dryness days (days with both extreme soil AND air dryness) across central Europe in the future, with little information on their impact on the functioning of trees and forests. This study aims to quantify and assess the impact of extreme soil dryness, extreme air dryness, and extreme compound dryness on the functioning of trees and forests. For this, >15 years of ecosystem-level (carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes) and 6-10 years of tree-level measurements (transpiration and growth) each from a montane mixed deciduous forest (CH-Lae) and a subalpine evergreen coniferous forest (CH-Dav) in Switzerland, is used. The results showed extreme air dryness limitation on CO2 fluxes and extreme soil dryness limitations on water vapor fluxes. Additionally, CH-Dav was mainly affected by extreme air dryness whereas CH-Lae was affected by both extreme soil dryness and extreme air dryness. The impact of extreme compound dryness on net CO2 uptake (about 75 % decrease) was more due to higher increased ecosystem respiration (40 % and 70 % increase at CH-Dav and CH-Lae, respectively) than decreased gross primary productivity (10 % and 40 % decrease at CH-Dav and CH-Lae, respectively). A significant negative impact on evapotranspiration and transpiration was only observed at CH-Lae during extreme soil and compound dryness (about 25 % decrease). Furthermore, with some differences, the tree-level impact on tree water deficit, transpiration, and growth were consistent with the ecosystem-level impact on carbon uptake and evapotranspiration. Finally, the impact of extreme dryness showed no significant relationship with tree allometry (diameter and height) but across different tree species. The projected future is likely to expose these forest areas to more extreme and frequent dryness conditions, thus compromising the functioning of trees and forests, thereby calling for management interventions to increase the adaptive capacity and resistance of these forests.

Detection and attribution of an anomaly in terrestrial photosynthesis in Europe during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake by plant photosynthesis, referred to as gross primary production (GPP) at the ecosystem level, is sensitive to environmental factors, including pollutant exposure, pollutant uptake, and changes in the scattering of solar shortwave irradiance (SWin) - the energy source for photosynthesis. The 2020 spring lockdown due to COVID-19 resulted in improved air quality and atmospheric transparency, providing a unique opportunity to assess the impact of air pollutants on terrestrial ecosystem functioning. However, detecting these effects can be challenging as GPP is influenced by other meteorological drivers and management practices. Based on data collected from 44 European ecosystem-scale CO2 flux monitoring stations, we observed significant changes in spring GPP at 34 sites during 2020 compared to 2015-2019. Among these, 14 sites showed an increase in GPP associated with higher SWin, 10 sites had lower GPP linked to atmospheric and soil dryness, and seven sites were subjected to management practices. The remaining three sites exhibited varying dynamics, with one experiencing colder and rainier weather resulting in lower GPP, and two showing higher GPP associated with earlier spring melts. Analysis using the regional atmospheric chemical transport model (LOTOS-EUROS) indicated that the ozone (O3) concentration remained relatively unchanged at the research sites, making it unlikely that O3 exposure was the dominant factor driving the primary production anomaly. In contrast, SWin increased by 9.4 % at 36 sites, suggesting enhanced GPP possibly due to reduced aerosol optical depth and cloudiness. Our findings indicate that air pollution and cloudiness may weaken the terrestrial carbon sink by up to 16 %. Accurate and continuous ground-based observations are crucial for detecting and attributing subtle changes in terrestrial ecosystem functioning in response to environmental and anthropogenic drivers.

Long-term changes in forest response to extreme atmospheric dryness.

Atmospheric dryness, as indicated by vapor pressure deficit (VPD), has a strong influence on forest greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. In this study, we used long-term (10-30 years) net ecosystem productivity (NEP) measurements from 60 forest sites across the world (1003 site-years) to quantify long-term changes in forest NEP resistance and NEP recovery in response to extreme atmospheric dryness. We tested two hypotheses: first, across sites differences in NEP resistance and NEP recovery of forests will depend on both the biophysical characteristics (i.e., leaf area index [LAI] and forest type) of the forest as well as on the local meteorological conditions of the site (i.e., mean VPD of the site), and second, forests experiencing an increasing trend in frequency and intensity of extreme dryness will show an increasing trend in NEP resistance and NEP recovery over time due to emergence of long-term ecological stress memory. We used a data-driven statistical learning approach to quantify NEP resistance and NEP recovery over multiple years. Our results showed that forest types, LAI, and median local VPD conditions explained over 50% of variance in both NEP resistance and NEP recovery, with drier sites showing higher NEP resistance and NEP recovery compared to sites with less atmospheric dryness. The impact of extreme atmospheric dryness events on NEP lasted for up to 3 days following most severe extreme events in most forests, indicated by an NEP recovery of less than 100%. We rejected our second hypothesis as we found no consistent relationship between trends of extreme VPD with trends in NEP resistance and NEP recovery across different forest sites, thus an increase in atmospheric dryness as it is predicted might not increase the resistance or recovery of forests in terms of NEP.

Daytime stomatal regulation in mature temperate trees prioritizes stem rehydration at night.

Trees remain sufficiently hydrated during drought by closing stomata and reducing canopy conductance (Gc ) in response to variations in atmospheric water demand and soil water availability. Thresholds that control the reduction of Gc are proposed to optimize hydraulic safety against carbon assimilation efficiency. However, the link between Gc and the ability of stem tissues to rehydrate at night remains unclear. We investigated whether species-specific Gc responses aim to prevent branch embolisms, or enable night-time stem rehydration, which is critical for turgor-dependent growth. For this, we used a unique combination of concurrent dendrometer, sap flow and leaf water potential measurements and collected branch-vulnerability curves of six common European tree species. Species-specific Gc reduction was weakly related to the water potentials at which 50% of branch xylem conductivity is lost (P50 ). Instead, we found a stronger relationship with stem rehydration. Species with a stronger Gc control were less effective at refilling stem-water storage as the soil dries, which appeared related to their xylem architecture. Our findings highlight the importance of stem rehydration for water-use regulation in mature trees, which likely relates to the maintenance of adequate stem turgor. We thus conclude that stem rehydration must complement the widely accepted safety-efficiency stomatal control paradigm.

ForestClim-Bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests.

Microclimate research gained renewed interest over the last decade and its importance for many ecological processes is increasingly being recognized. Consequently, the call for high-resolution microclimatic temperature grids across broad spatial extents is becoming more pressing to improve ecological models. Here, we provide a new set of open-access bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests at 25 × 25 m2 resolution.

Spatiotemporal evolution of global long-term patterns of soil moisture.

Surface soil moisture (SM) is essential for existence of biotic lifeform and geophysical processes. However, with increasing global warming due to climatic changes, its spatiotemporal evolution is uncertain and largely unknown. In this study we detected long-term (40 years; 1981-2020) SM patterns of global vegetated areas through spatial timeseries clustering using the state-of-the-art ERA5-Land dataset. In addition, we also analyzed long-term patterns of precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (bare soil evaporation (BSe) and vegetation transpiration (VT)), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Our results indicate that surface SM (0-7 cm depth) of about 48 % and 9 % of the global vegetated area is showing drying and wetting pattern over the past 40 years, respectively. The detected soil drying, and wetting patterns were largely consistent across different soil depth, with 90 % and 80 % pattern similarity of surface soil layer with 2nd soil layer (7-28 cm) and 3rd soil layer (28-100 cm), respectively. About 80 % of areas with drying soil pattern also showed increasing evapotranspiration and/or decreasing precipitation. Specifically, decreasing P, increasing BSe and VT pattern were detected for 11 % of the soil drying pattern area. Similarly, increasing BSe and VT pattern, only decreasing P and only increasing VT pattern were detected for 17 %, 25 % and 12 % of soil drying areas, respectively. Both decreasing precipitation and increasing evapotranspiration patterns showed about 40 % similarity with decreasing soil moisture patterns. Across different landcover types, broadleaved forests, and cropland areas showed largest drying pattern. Under the future global warming scenario, the global soil water is expected to decrease as evapotranspiration would increase with inconsistent trend of global precipitation change. Our findings are of utmost importance for global soil water resource conservation and management.

Joint optimization of land carbon uptake and albedo can help achieve moderate instantaneous and long-term cooling effects.

Both carbon dioxide uptake and albedo of the land surface affect global climate. However, climate change mitigation by increasing carbon uptake can cause a warming trade-off by decreasing albedo, with most research focusing on afforestation and its interaction with snow. Here, we present carbon uptake and albedo observations from 176 globally distributed flux stations. We demonstrate a gradual decline in maximum achievable annual albedo as carbon uptake increases, even within subgroups of non-forest and snow-free ecosystems. Based on a paired-site permutation approach, we quantify the likely impact of land use on carbon uptake and albedo. Shifting to the maximum attainable carbon uptake at each site would likely cause moderate net global warming for the first approximately 20 years, followed by a strong cooling effect. A balanced policy co-optimizing carbon uptake and albedo is possible that avoids warming on any timescale, but results in a weaker long-term cooling effect.

Photosynthetic capacity dominates the interannual variation of annual gross primary productivity in the Northern Hemisphere.

Annual gross primary productivity (AGPP) of terrestrial ecosystems is the largest carbon flux component in ecosystems; however, it's unclear whether photosynthetic capacity or phenology dominates interannual variation of AGPP, and a better understanding of this could contribute to estimation of carbon sinks and their interactions with climate change. In this study, observed GPP data of 494 site-years from 39 eddy covariance sites in Northern Hemisphere were used to investigate mechanisms of interannual variation of AGPP. This study first decomposed AGPP into three seasonal dynamic attribute parameters (growing season length (CUP), maximum daily GPP (GPPmax), and the ratio of mean daily GPP to GPPmax (αGPP)), and then decomposed AGPP into mean leaf area index (LAIm) and annual photosynthetic capacity per leaf area (AGPPlm). Furthermore, GPPmax was decomposed into leaf area index of DOYmax (the day when GPPmax appeared) (LAImax) and photosynthesis per leaf area of DOYmax (GPPlmax). Relative contributions of parameters to AGPP and GPPmax were then calculated. Finally, environmental variables of DOYmax were extracted to analyze factors influencing interannual variation of GPPlmax. Trends of AGPP in 39 ecosystems varied from -65.23 to 53.05 g C m-2 yr-2, with the mean value of 6.32 g C m-2 yr-2. Photosynthetic capacity (GPPmax and AGPPlm), not CUP or LAI, was the main factor dominating interannual variation of AGPP. GPPlmax determined the interannual variation of GPPmax, and temperature, water, and radiation conditions of DOYmax affected the interannual variation of GPPlmax. This study used the cascade relationship of "environmental variables-GPPlmax-GPPmax-AGPP" to explain the mechanism of interannual variation of AGPP, which can provide new ideas for the AGPP estimation based on seasonal dynamic of GPP.

Soil-plant interactions modulated water availability of Swiss forests during the 2015 and 2018 droughts.

Central Europe has been experiencing unprecedented droughts during the last decades, stressing the decrease in tree water availability. However, the assessment of physiological drought stress is challenging, and feedback between soil and vegetation is often omitted because of scarce belowground data. Here we aimed to model Swiss forests' water availability during the 2015 and 2018 droughts by implementing the mechanistic soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transport (SVAT) model LWF-Brook90 taking advantage of regionalized depth-resolved soil information. We calibrated the model against soil matric potential data measured from 2014 to 2018 at 44 sites along a Swiss climatic and edaphic drought gradient. Swiss forest soils' storage capacity of plant-available water ranged from 53 mm to 341 mm, with a median of 137 ± 42 mm down to the mean potential rooting depth of 1.2 m. Topsoil was the primary water source. However, trees switched to deeper soil water sources during drought. This effect was less pronounced for coniferous trees with a shallower rooting system than for deciduous trees, which resulted in a higher reduction of actual transpiration (transpiration deficit) in coniferous trees. Across Switzerland, forest trees reduced the transpiration by 23% (compared to potential transpiration) in 2015 and 2018, maintaining annual actual transpiration comparable to other years. Together with lower evaporative fluxes, the Swiss forests did not amplify the blue water deficit. The 2018 drought, characterized by a higher and more persistent transpiration deficit than in 2015, triggered widespread early wilting across Swiss forests that was better predicted by the SVAT-derived mean soil matric potential in the rooting zone than by climatic predictors. Such feedback-driven quantification of ecosystem water fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum will be crucial to predicting physiological drought stress under future climate extremes.

Uncovering the critical soil moisture thresholds of plant water stress for European ecosystems.

Understanding the critical soil moisture (SM) threshold (θcrit ) of plant water stress and land surface energy partitioning is a basis to evaluate drought impacts and improve models for predicting future ecosystem condition and climate. Quantifying the θcrit across biomes and climates is challenging because observations of surface energy fluxes and SM remain sparse. Here, we used the latest database of eddy covariance measurements to estimate θcrit across Europe by evaluating evaporative fraction (EF)-SM relationships and investigating the covariance between vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and gross primary production (GPP) during SM dry-down periods. We found that the θcrit and soil matric potential threshold in Europe are 16.5% and -0.7 MPa, respectively. Surface energy partitioning characteristics varied among different vegetation types; EF in savannas had the highest sensitivities to SM in water-limited stage, and the lowest in forests. The sign of the covariance between daily VPD and GPP consistently changed from positive to negative during dry-down across all sites when EF shifted from relatively high to low values. This sign of the covariance changed after longer period of SM decline in forests than in grasslands and savannas. Estimated θcrit from the VPD-GPP covariance method match well with the EF-SM method, showing this covariance method can be used to detect the θcrit . We further found that soil texture dominates the spatial variability of θcrit while shortwave radiation and VPD are the major drivers in determining the spatial pattern of EF sensitivities. Our results highlight for the first time that the sign change of the covariance between daily VPD and GPP can be used as an indicator of how ecosystems transition from energy to SM limitation. We also characterized the corresponding θcrit and its drivers across diverse ecosystems in Europe, an essential variable to improve the representation of water stress in land surface models.

ForestTemp - Sub-canopy microclimate temperatures of European forests.

Ecological research heavily relies on coarse-gridded climate data based on standardized temperature measurements recorded at 2 m height in open landscapes. However, many organisms experience environmental conditions that differ substantially from those captured by these macroclimatic (i.e. free air) temperature grids. In forests, the tree canopy functions as a thermal insulator and buffers sub-canopy microclimatic conditions, thereby affecting biological and ecological processes. To improve the assessment of climatic conditions and climate-change-related impacts on forest-floor biodiversity and functioning, high-resolution temperature grids reflecting forest microclimates are thus urgently needed. Combining more than 1200 time series of in situ near-surface forest temperature with topographical, biological and macroclimatic variables in a machine learning model, we predicted the mean monthly offset between sub-canopy temperature at 15 cm above the surface and free-air temperature over the period 2000-2020 at a spatial resolution of 25 m across Europe. This offset was used to evaluate the difference between microclimate and macroclimate across space and seasons and finally enabled us to calculate mean annual and monthly temperatures for European forest understories. We found that sub-canopy air temperatures differ substantially from free-air temperatures, being on average 2.1°C (standard deviation ± 1.6°C) lower in summer and 2.0°C higher (±0.7°C) in winter across Europe. Additionally, our high-resolution maps expose considerable microclimatic variation within landscapes, not captured by the gridded macroclimatic products. The provided forest sub-canopy temperature maps will enable future research to model below-canopy biological processes and patterns, as well as species distributions more accurately.

Ecosystem transpiration and evaporation: Insights from three water flux partitioning methods across FLUXNET sites.

We apply and compare three widely applicable methods for estimating ecosystem transpiration (T) from eddy covariance (EC) data across 251 FLUXNET sites globally. All three methods are based on the coupled water and carbon relationship, but they differ in assumptions and parameterizations. Intercomparison of the three daily T estimates shows high correlation among methods (R between .89 and .94), but a spread in magnitudes of T/ET (evapotranspiration) from 45% to 77%. When compared at six sites with concurrent EC and sap flow measurements, all three EC-based T estimates show higher correlation to sap flow-based T than EC-based ET. The partitioning methods show expected tendencies of T/ET increasing with dryness (vapor pressure deficit and days since rain) and with leaf area index (LAI). Analysis of 140 sites with high-quality estimates for at least two continuous years shows that T/ET variability was 1.6 times higher across sites than across years. Spatial variability of T/ET was primarily driven by vegetation and soil characteristics (e.g., crop or grass designation, minimum annual LAI, soil coarse fragment volume) rather than climatic variables such as mean/standard deviation of temperature or precipitation. Overall, T and T/ET patterns are plausible and qualitatively consistent among the different water flux partitioning methods implying a significant advance made for estimating and understanding T globally, while the magnitudes remain uncertain. Our results represent the first extensive EC data-based estimates of ecosystem T permitting a data-driven perspective on the role of plants' water use for global water and carbon cycling in a changing climate.

Sensitivity of gross primary productivity to climatic drivers during the summer drought of 2018 in Europe.

In summer 2018, Europe experienced a record drought, but it remains unknown how the drought affected ecosystem carbon dynamics. Using observations from 34 eddy covariance sites in different biomes across Europe, we studied the sensitivity of gross primary productivity (GPP) to environmental drivers during the summer drought of 2018 versus the reference summer of 2016. We found a greater drought-induced decline of summer GPP in grasslands (-38%) than in forests (-10%), which coincided with reduced evapotranspiration and soil water content (SWC). As compared to the 'normal year' of 2016, GPP in different ecosystems exhibited more negative sensitivity to summer air temperature (Ta) but stronger positive sensitivity to SWC during summer drought in 2018, that is, a stronger reduction of GPP with soil moisture deficit. We found larger negative effects of Ta and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) but a lower positive effect of photosynthetic photon flux density on GPP in 2018 compared to 2016, which contributed to reduced summer GPP in 2018. Our results demonstrate that high temperature-induced increases in VPD and decreases in SWC aggravated drought impacts on GPP. This article is part of the theme issue 'Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale'.

Altered energy partitioning across terrestrial ecosystems in the European drought year 2018.

Drought and heat events, such as the 2018 European drought, interact with the exchange of energy between the land surface and the atmosphere, potentially affecting albedo, sensible and latent heat fluxes, as well as CO2 exchange. Each of these quantities may aggravate or mitigate the drought, heat, their side effects on productivity, water scarcity and global warming. We used measurements of 56 eddy covariance sites across Europe to examine the response of fluxes to extreme drought prevailing most of the year 2018 and how the response differed across various ecosystem types (forests, grasslands, croplands and peatlands). Each component of the surface radiation and energy balance observed in 2018 was compared to available data per site during a reference period 2004-2017. Based on anomalies in precipitation and reference evapotranspiration, we classified 46 sites as drought affected. These received on average 9% more solar radiation and released 32% more sensible heat to the atmosphere compared to the mean of the reference period. In general, drought decreased net CO2 uptake by 17.8%, but did not significantly change net evapotranspiration. The response of these fluxes differed characteristically between ecosystems; in particular, the general increase in the evaporative index was strongest in peatlands and weakest in croplands. This article is part of the theme issue 'Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale'.

Physiological response of Swiss ecosystems to 2018 drought across plant types and elevation.

Using five eddy covariance flux sites (two forests and three grasslands), we investigated ecosystem physiological responses to the 2018 drought across elevational gradients in Switzerland. Flux measurements showed that at lower elevation sites (below 1000 m.a.s.l.; grassland and mixed forest) annual ecosystem productivity (GPP) declined by approximately 20% compared to the previous 2 years (2016 and 2017), which led to a reduced annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP). At the high elevation sites, however, GPP increased by approximately 14% and as a result NEP increased in the alpine and montane grasslands, but not in the subalpine coniferous forest. There, increased ecosystem respiration led to a reduced annual NEP, despite increased GPP and lengthening of the growing period. Among all ecosystems, the coniferous forest showed the most pronounced negative stomatal response to atmospheric dryness (i.e. vapour pressure deficit, VPD) that resulted in a decline in surface conductance and an increased water-use efficiency during drought. While increased temperature enhanced the water-use efficiency of both forests, de-coupling of GPP from evapotranspiration at the low-elevation grassland site negatively affected water-use efficiency due to non-stomatal reductions in photosynthesis. Our results show that hot droughts (such as in 2018) lead to different responses across plants types, and thus ecosystems. Particularly grasslands at lower elevations are the most vulnerable ecosystems to negative impacts of future drought in Switzerland. This article is part of the theme issue 'Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale'.

Assessing the response of forest productivity to climate extremes in Switzerland using model-data fusion.

The response of forest productivity to climate extremes strongly depends on ambient environmental and site conditions. To better understand these relationships at a regional scale, we used nearly 800 observation years from 271 permanent long-term forest monitoring plots across Switzerland, obtained between 1980 and 2017. We assimilated these data into the 3-PG forest ecosystem model using Bayesian inference, reducing the bias of model predictions from 14% to 5% for forest stem carbon stocks and from 45% to 9% for stem carbon stock changes. We then estimated the productivity of forests dominated by Picea abies and Fagus sylvatica for the period of 1960-2018, and tested for productivity shifts in response to climate along elevational gradient and in extreme years. Simulated net primary productivity (NPP) decreased with elevation (2.86 ± 0.006 Mg C ha-1  year-1  km-1 for P. abies and 0.93 ± 0.010 Mg C ha-1  year-1  km-1 for F. sylvatica). During warm-dry extremes, simulated NPP for both species increased at higher and decreased at lower elevations, with reductions in NPP of more than 25% for up to 21% of the potential species distribution range in Switzerland. Reduced plant water availability had a stronger effect on NPP than temperature during warm-dry extremes. Importantly, cold-dry extremes had negative impacts on regional forest NPP comparable to warm-dry extremes. Overall, our calibrated model suggests that the response of forest productivity to climate extremes is more complex than simple shift toward higher elevation. Such robust estimates of NPP are key for increasing our understanding of forests ecosystems carbon dynamics under climate extremes.

Can a growth model be used to describe forest carbon and water balance after fuel reduction burning in temperate forests?

Empirical evidence from Australia shows that fuel reduction burning significantly reduces the incidence and extent of unplanned fires. However, the integration of environmental values into fire management operations is not yet well-defined and requires further research and development. WAVES, a plant growth model that incorporates Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer, was used to simulate the hydrological and ecological effects of three fuel management scenarios on a forest ecosystem. WAVES was applied using inputs from a set of forest plots for one year after three potential scenarios: (1) all litter removed, (2) all litter and 50% of the understorey removed, (3) all litter and understorey removed. Modelled outputs were compared with sites modelled with no-fuel reduction treatment (Unburnt). The key change between unburnt and fuel reduced forests was a significant increase in soil moisture after fire. Predictions of the recovery of aboveground carbon as plant biomass were driven by model structure and thus variability in available light and soil moisture at a local scale. Similarly, effects of fuel reduction burning on water processes were mainly due to changes in vegetation interception capacity (i.e. regrowth) and soil evaporation. Predicted effects of fuel reduction burning on total evapotranspiration (ET) - the major component of water balance - were marginal and not significant, even though a considerable proportion of ET had effectively been transferred from understorey to overstorey. In common with many plant growth models, outputs from WAVES are dictated by the assumption that overstorey trees continue to grow irrespective of their age or stage of maturity. Large areas of eucalypt forests and woodlands in SE Australia are well beyond their aggrading phase and are instead over-mature. The ability of these forests to rapidly respond to greater availability of water remains uncertain.

Optimisation of fuel reduction burning regimes for carbon, water and vegetation outcomes.

Fire plays a critical role in biodiversity, carbon balance, soil erosion, and nutrient and hydrological cycles. While empirical evidence shows that fuel reduction burning can reduce the incidence, severity and extent of unplanned fires in Australia and elsewhere, the integration of environmental values into fire management operations is not well-defined and requires further research and development. In practice, the priority for fuel reduction burning is effective mitigation of risk to life and property. Environmental management objectives, including maintenance of high quality water, reduction of CO2 emissions and conservation of biodiversity can be constrained by this priority. We explore trade-offs between fuel reduction burning and environmental management objectives and propose a framework for optimising fuel reduction burning for environmental outcomes.

Stomatal structure and physiology do not explain differences in water use among montane eucalypts.

Understanding the regulation of water use at the whole-tree scale is critical to advancing the utility of physiological ecology, for example in its role in predictive hydrology of forested catchments. For three eucalypt species that dominate high-elevation catchments in south-eastern Australia, we examined if whole-tree water use could be related to three widely discussed regulators of water use: stomatal anatomy, sensitivity of stomata [i.e. stomatal conductance (g(s))] to environmental influences, and sapwood area. While daily tree water use varied sixfold among species, sap velocity and sapwood area varied in parallel. Combined, stomatal structure and physiology could not explain differences in species-specific water use. Species which exhibited the fastest (Eucalyptus delegatensis) and slowest (Eucalyptus pauciflora) rates of water use both exhibited greater capacity for physiological control of g(s) [indicated by sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit (VPD)] and a reduced capacity to limit g(s) anatomically [indicated by greater potential g(s) (g(max))]. Conversely, g(s) was insensitive to VPD and g(max) was lowest for Eucalyptus radiata, the species showing intermediate rates of water use. Improved knowledge of stomatal anatomy will help us to understand the capacity of species to regulate leaf-level water loss, but seems likely to remain of limited use for explaining rates of whole-tree water use in montane eucalypts at the catchment scale.