No abstract

The Pantanal is subjected to a monomodal and predictable flood pulse of low amplitude which is the main driver of ecological processes and patterns of biodiversity in one of the largest wetlands in the world. Nevertheless, little is known about how the plant communities of this wetland respond to predicted climate changes. In this paper, we used tree-ring analyses of Vochysia divergens Pohl (Vochysiaceae), a light-demanding pioneer species that occurs in periodically or short-term flooded areas in the Cerrado and Pantanal. We evaluated the influence of precipitation and water level on the growth rates of this species, where it occurs, to determine how local climatic variables (precipitation and water level) influence tree growth and how a large-scale climatic driver in the tropical eastern Pacific (El Nin ˜o events) could affect both tree growth and local climate in the northern region of the Pantanal. The indexed tree-ring chronology of eight individuals had a significant relationship with annual precipitation (r = 0.22). Interannual variations of the water level did not affect tree growth. Sea surface temperature anomalies of the El Nin ˜o 1 ? 2 region lead to decreased precipitation in the northern region of the Pantanal, resulting in decreased diameter increments of V. divergens. Our results demonstrated the dendrochronological potential of V. divergens for analyzing climate-growth relationships for developing climate-sensitive proxies for reconstructing past climatic conditions.

year-1. The MLD was 46.4 ± 0.6 cm (standard error), which trees achieve at an age of about 115 years. The felling cycle, estimated by the mean passage time through 10 cm diameter classes until achieving the MLD, was 24.7 ± 1.3 years. These results corroborated the norms of the current Brazilian legislation that regulates forest management of high intensity in the Amazon basin. In future, more specific growth models are needed for other commercial tree species in the Amazonian Estuary to define the optimal harvest rate to maintain sustainable timber resource management practices. Through such practices, the conservation of these ecosystems and their multiple services and functions, as well as the welfare of the forest-dependent human populations can be secured.