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The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) is one of the major pests of fruit crops in Argentina and it is a phytosanitary barrier to the export of fresh fruits. In the Province of San Juan, located in the central-eastern region of Argentina known as Cuyo, control strategies against Medfly in fruit-producing irrigated-valleys have been implemented by the National Fruit Fly Control and Eradication Program (ProCEM) jointly with the provincial government and the producers. This program uses an area-wide integrated pest management approach that includes the use of environment-friendly strategies to suppress or eradicate Medfly, such as the use

Seasonal cambial activity was investigated in one-to three-year-old branch modules (branch constructional units) of ten woody species from cerrado sensu stricto, a savanna-like ecosystem, of southern Brazil. Relationships between cambial activity and environmental factors (precipitation, temperature, day length) and leaf production were tested using GLMM. Regardless the plant habit and leaf shedding patterns, cambial activity (about 5 months) corresponded to the core of the rainy season (when at least 66% of the annual precipitation had been reached), even though there was some delay or advance in the timing of cambial activity depending on the branch age or species. Cambial activity began in the dry season and ceased before the end of rainy season. Although cambial activity has been positively correlated with day length, precipitation, temperature, and budding for all species, day length, among the assessed factors, seems to be the best predictor of onset and cessation of cambial activity in the branch modules of cerrado species.

Key message Cambial dormancy in a tropical evergreen species is long lasting, and the initiation of cambial activity is related to day length. Abstract Studies on cambial activity allow us to understand the growth dynamics of plants. In this study, we investigate cambial activity and the conducting phloem in a population of an evergreen shrubby species from a semideciduous tropical forest with distinct wet and dry seasons. Stem samples from Cordiera concolor were collected bimonthly in 2010 and prepared according to the standard methods for plant anatomy. The relationship between cambial activity and climate factors as well as phenology was investigated using Spearman's correlation. The cambium is dormant during the rainy season and dormancy lasted up to 9 months. Cambial activity was positively related to day length, and although it occurred in the rainy season, the period of its onset and termination was not concurrent with the beginning and end of the rainy season. The conducting phloem corresponded most to the noncollapsed phloem and was present year-round, ranging in width (in transverse section) from 62 lm in the rainy season to 112 lm in the dry season. Together, these results illustrate that cambial activity in an evergreen species of a seasonal tropical forest is seasonal with long-lasting cambial dormancy, and that at least some conducting phloem is present year-round.

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