Effects of climate variation on growth and hydraulic functioning of jatobá xylem (Hymenaea courbaril - Fabaceae) in two contrasting phytophysiognomies: rainforest and Cerrado

Abstract

Several studies have pointed to changes in climate such as variations in precipitation, temperature and CO2 concentration of the atmosphere. Such variations affect numerous ecosystems, especially rainforests, which occupy about 40% of the earth and harbor large biodiversity. One way to analyze these impacts is to observe tree growth and its relationship to climate changes over time in two distinct phytophysiognomies, thus contributing to a greater understanding of tree growth in environments with limiting and non-limiting climate factors, as is the case with water availability, limiting in biomes such as cerrado and caatinga, but not limiting in biomes such as the rainforest and the Amazon rainforest. In order to understand how two contrasting phytophysiognomies, wet and dry rainforests, responded to these climate changes, we will use a retrospective tool: growth ring analysis. From this analysis we will seek to understand the responses about tree growth and anatomy to climate variability and how these responses vary in two contrasting environments over time. In this way, we aim to provide a better understanding of tropical tree responses to future climate change. (AU)