Title:	Leafing patterns and drivers across seasonally dry tropical communities.
Authors:	ALBERTON, B. TORRES, R. da S. SILVA, T. S. F. ROCHA, H. R. da MOURA, M. S. B. de MORELLATO, L. P. C.
Affiliation:	Bruna Alberton, UNESP - Rio Claro, SP; Ricardo da Silva Torres, UNICAMP; Thiago Sanna Freire Silva, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA Stirling, UK; Humberto R. da Rocha, USP - São Paulo, SP; MAGNA SOELMA BESERRA DE MOURA, CPATSA; Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato, UNESP - Rio Claro, SP.
Date Issued:	2019
Citation:	Remote Sensing, v. 11, 2267, 2019.
Description:	Investigating the timing of key phenological events across environments with variable seasonality is crucial to understand the drivers of ecosystem dynamics. Leaf production in the tropics is mainly constrained by water and light availability. Identifying the factors regulating leaf phenology patterns allows eciently forecasting of climate change impacts. We conducted a novel phenological monitoring study across four Neotropical vegetation sites using leaf phenology time series obtained from digital repeated photographs (phenocameras). Seasonality diered among sites, from very seasonally dry climate in the caatinga dry scrubland with an eight-month long dry season to the less restrictive Cerrado vegetation with a six-month dry season. To unravel the main drivers of leaf phenology and understand how they influence seasonal dynamics (represented by the green color channel (Gcc) vegetation index), we applied Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) to estimate the growing seasons, using water deficit and day length as covariates. Our results indicated that plant-water relationships are more important in the caatinga, while light (measured as day-length) was more relevant in explaining leafing patterns in Cerrado communities. Leafing behaviors and predictor-response relationships (distinct smooth functions) were more variable at the less seasonal Cerrado sites, suggesting that different life-forms (grasses, herbs, shrubs, and trees) are capable of overcoming drought through specific phenological strategies and associated functional traits, such as deep root systems in trees.
Thesagro:	Vegetação Clima Mudança Climática
NAL Thesaurus:	Climatic zones
Keywords:	Fenologia vegetativa Sazonalidade Fatores climáticos Séries temporais Fenologia remota perto da superfície
DOI:	10.3390/rs11192267
Type of Material:	Artigo de periódico
Access:	openAccess
Appears in Collections:	Artigo em periódico indexado (CPATSA)