Stomatal closure can explain the inhibition of net CO2 uptake by a leaf subjected to a mild drought: the photosynthetic apparatus appears resistant to lack of water. Changes in both the water content of leaves maintained in a constant environment and the ambient CO2 molar fraction during measurements on well-hydrated leaves lead to similar effects on net CO2 uptake and whole chain electron transport as estimated by leaf chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. In particular, it is shown that photosystem II (PSII) functioning and its regulation are not qualitatively changed during desiccation and that the variations in PSII photochemistry can simply be understood by changes in substrate availability in this condition. Moreover, an analysis of the literature shows that when inhibition of net CO2 uptake by C3 leaves under drought (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Helianthus annus L. and Solanum tuberosum L.) was lower than 80 %, elevated CO2 completely restored the photosynthetic capacity. The CO2 molar fraction in the chloroplasts declines as stomata close in drying leaves. As a consequence, in C3 plants, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate oxygenation increases and becomes the main sink for photosynthetic electrons. Depending on the prevailing photon flux density, the O2 uptake through photorespiratory activity can entirely replace carbon dioxide as an electron acceptor, or not. The rate of the Mehler reaction remains low and unchanged during desiccation. However, drought could also involve CO2-sensitive modification of the photosynthetic metabolism depending on plant growth conditions and possibly also on plant species.

Summary• Phloem is the main pathway for transferring photosynthates belowground. In situ 13 C pulse labelling of trees 8-10 m tall was conducted in the field on 10 beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees, six sessile oak (Quercus petraea) trees and 10 maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) trees throughout the growing season.• Respired 13 CO 2 from trunks was tracked at different heights using tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry to determine time lags and the velocity of carbon transfer (V). The isotope composition of phloem extracts was measured on several occasions after labelling and used to estimate the rate constant of phloem sap outflux (k P ).• Pulse labelling together with high-frequency measurement of the isotope composition of trunk CO 2 efflux is a promising tool for studying phloem transport in the field. Seasonal variability in V was predicted in pine and oak by bivariate linear regressions with air temperature and soil water content. V differed among the three species consistently with known differences in phloem anatomy between broadleaf and coniferous trees.• V increased with tree diameter in oak and beech, reflecting a nonlinear increase in volumetric flow with increasing bark cross-sectional area, which suggests changes in allocation pattern with tree diameter in broadleaf species. Discrepancies between V and k P indicate vertical changes in functional phloem properties.

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