Anthropogenic activities such as uncontrolled deforestation and increasing greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for triggering a series of environmental imbalances that affect the Earth's complex climate dynamics. As a consequence of these changes, several climate models forecast an intensification of extreme weather events over the upcoming decades, including heat waves and increasingly severe drought and flood episodes. The occurrence of such extreme weather will prompt profound changes in several plant communities, resulting in massive forest dieback events that can trigger a massive loss of biodiversity in several biomes worldwide. Despite the gravity of the situation, our knowledge regarding how extreme weather events can undermine the performance, survival, and distribution of forest species remains very fragmented. Therefore, the present review aimed to provide a broad and integrated perspective of the main biochemical, physiological, and morpho‐anatomical disorders that may compromise the performance and survival of forest species exposed to climate change factors, particularly drought, flooding, and global warming. In addition, we also discuss the controversial effects of high CO₂ concentrations in enhancing plant growth and reducing the deleterious effects of some extreme climatic events. We conclude with a discussion about the possible effects that the factors associated with the climate change might have on species distribution and forest composition.

Bark is a structure involved in multiple physiological functions, but which has been traditionally associated with protection against fire. Thus, little is known about how the morpho-anatomical variations of this structure are related to different ecological pressures, especially in tropical savanna species, which are commonly subjected to frequent fire and drought events. Here we evaluated how the structural and functional variations of bark are related to the processes of resilience and resistance to fire, as well as transport and storage of water in 31 native species from the Brazilian Cerrado. Because of their thick bark, none of the trees analyzed were top-killed after a severe fire event. The structural and functional variations of the bark were also associated with water storage and transport, functions related to properties of the inner bark. In fact, species with a thicker and less dense inner bark were the ones that had the highest water contents in the wood, bark, and leaves. Lower bark density was also related to higher stem hydraulic conductivity, carbon assimilation, and growth. Overall, we provide strong evidence that in addition to protection from fire, the relative investment in bark also reflects different strategies of water use and conservation among many Cerrado tree species.

The remarkable phytogeographic characteristics of the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado) resulted in a vegetation domain composed of plants with high structural and functional diversity to tolerate climate extremes. Here we used a key Cerrado species (Dipteryx alata) to evaluate if species of this domain present a mechanism of stress memory, responding more quickly and efficiently when exposed to recurrent drought episodes. The exposure of D. alata seedlings to drought resulted in several changes, mainly in physiological and biochemical traits, and these changes differed substantially when the water deficit was imposed as an isolated event or when the plants were subjected to drought cycles, suggesting the existence of a drought memory mechanism. Plants submitted to recurrent drought events were able to maintain essential processes for plant survival when compared to those submitted to drought for the first time. This differential acclimation to drought was the result of orchestrated changes in several metabolic pathways, involving differential carbon allocation for defense responses and the reprogramming and coordination of primary, secondary and antioxidant metabolism. The stress memory in D. alata is probably linked the evolutionary history of the species and reflects the environment in which it evolved.