Tree-ring formation, radial increment periodicity, and phenology of tree species from a seasonal semi-deciduous forest in southeast Brazil

LISI, C.S., M. TOMAZELLO, P.C. BOTOSSO, F.A. ROIG, V.R.B. MARIA, L. FERREIRA-FEDELE, A.R.A. VOIGT

IAWA JOURNAL

Lugar: Leiden; Año: 2008 p. 189 - 207

0928-1541

Many tropical tree species produce growth rings in the xylem in response to seasonal environmental factors that influence the activity of the vascular cambium. We applied thefollowing methods to analyze the annual nature of tree ring formation of 24 tree species froma seasonal semi-deciduous forest of southeast Brazil: describing wood anatomy andphenology, counting tree rings after cambium markings, and using permanent dendrometerbands. After 7 years of systematic observations and measurements, we found the following:the trees loss their leaves during the dry season and got new leaves at the end of the sameseason; trunk growth dynamics corresponded to seasonal changes in precipitation, withhigher growth (active period) during the rainy season (October-April) and lower growth(dormant period) during the dry season (May-September); the number of tree rings formedafter injuries in the cambium coincided with the number of years since extracting the woodsamples. As result of these observations, the 92% of the tree species studied formed onegrowth ring per year. This finding proves that tree species from the seasonal semi-deciduousforests of Brazil have an annual cycle of wood formation. Therefore, these trees havepotential for use in future studies of tree age, of growth rate, as well as to infer ecological andclimatic conditions of this region. These future studies could provide important informationfor the management and conservation of these endangered forests.