Fires are complex processes having important impacts on biosphere/atmosphere interactions. The spatial and temporal pattern of fire activity is determined by complex feedbacks between climate and plant functioning through and biomass desiccation, usually estimated by fire danger indices (FDI) in official fire risk prevention services. Contrasted vegetation types from fire-prone Brazilian biomes may respond differently to soil water deficit during the fire season. Then, we propose to evaluate the burned area (BA)/FDI relationship across Brazil using most common FDIs and the main BA products from global remote sensing. We computed 12 standard FDIs- at 0.5° resolution from 2002 to 2011 and used the monthly BA from four BA datasets—from the MODIS sensor (MCD45A1), the MERIS sensor (MERIS FIRE_CCI), the Global Fire Emission Database version 4 (GFED4) and version 4s including small fires (GFED4s). We performed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the coefficients of determination (R²) of the FDI/BA relationship to investigate the biome specificities of Brazilian biomes and the sensitivity to BA datasets. Good relationships (R² > 0.8) were observed for all BA datasets, except SPEI (R² < 0.2). We showed that FDIs computed from empirical water balances considering a lower soil capacity are more correlated to the seasonal pattern of fire occurrence in the Cerrado biome with contrasted adjustments between the western (early drying) and eastern part (late drying), while the fine fuel moisture index is more correlated to the fire seasonal pattern in Amazonia. The biome specificities of the FDI/BA relationship was evaluated with a general linear model. High accuracies in the biome distribution according to the FDI/BA relationship (>50%, p < 0.001) was observed in Amazonia and Cerrado, with lower accuracy (<32%, p < 0.001) in the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga. These results suggest that the FDI/BA relationship are biome-specific to explain the seasonal course of burned in Brazilian biomes, independently of the global BA product used. Selected FDIs should be used for fire danger forecast in each Brazilian biome.

The phenotype of an individual emerges from the interaction of its genotype with the environment in which it is located. Phenotypic plasticity (PP) is the ability of a specific genotype to present multiple phenotypes in response to the environment. Past and current methods for quantification of PP present limitations, mainly in what constitutes a systemic analysis of multiple traits. This research proposes an integrative index for quantifying and evaluating PP. The multivariate plasticity index (MVPi) was calculated based on the Euclidian distance between scores of a canonical variate analysis. It was evaluated for leaf physiological traits in two cases using Brazilian Cerrado species and sugarcane varieties, grown under diverse environmental conditions. The MVPi was sensitive to plant behaviour from simple to complex genotype–environment interactions and was able to inform coarse and fine changes in PP. It was correlated to biomass allocation, showing agreement between plant organizational levels. The new method proved to be elucidative of plant metabolic changes, mainly by explaining PP as an integrated process and emergent property. We recommend the MVPi method as a tool for analysis of phenotypic plasticity in the context of a systemic evaluation of plant phenotypic traits.

Diferenças na disponibilidade de radiação podem causar modificações na estrutura e função das folhas do cafeeiro, que podem responder de maneira diferencial à radiação por alterações morfológicas, anatômicas, de crescimento e na taxa fotossintética. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar características morfofisiológicas de cafeeiros (Coffea arabica L. cv. "Oeiras") sombreados por acácia (Acacia mangium Willd.) na época seca e chuvosa no sul de Minas Gerais. As maiores taxas fotossintéticas e maiores espessuras da epiderme adaxial foram observadas na estação chuvosa nas linhas de cafeeiros a pleno sol. O sombreamento influenciou em menor espessura das folhas e em espaços intercelulares maiores no tecido esponjoso. Foi também verificada mudança na forma dos cloroplastos, os quais apresentaram-se mais alongados em folhas de cafeeiros a pleno sol quando relacionados aos arborizados.

Adaptability and stability of reproductive and vegetative phases of peach trees in subtropical climate