A mosaic of Campos grassland and)H=K?=HE= forest characterizes the vegetation of the Southern Brazilian highland plateau. Palaeoecological evidence indicates that forest expansion over grassland initiated after the mid Holocene, when climate changed towards present day cool and moist conditions. In this paper, we discuss landscape level changes that occurred on vegetation patterns after grazing and fire exclusion in a mosaic of Campos and)H=K?=HE= forest in Southern Brazil. The analysis of aerial photographs from 1974 and 1999 showed alterations on grassland communities under grazing and fire exclusion, especially pronounced shrub establishment near the edge of the forest. Considering the change in the cover of vegetation classes relative to the total altered cover in all classes from 1974 to 1999, the most prominent alterations were: 48% from grassland with tussock grasses dominance (GRA) to grassland with shrubs (GSR), 24% from GRA to grassland with tall shrubs (GTS), 16% from GSR to GTS and 9% from GTS to forest (FOR). Considering the alteration relatively to the vegetation cover in 1974, the most relevant changes were: 44% from GSR to GTS and 94% from GTS to FOR. These observations support a directional forest expansion over grassland under grazing and fire exclusion.

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Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze is an indigenous conifer tree restricted to the southern region of South America that plays a key role in the dynamics of regional ecosystems where forest expansion over grasslands has been observed. Here, we evaluate the changes in intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) and basal area increment (BAI) of this species in response to atmospheric CO 2 , temperature and precipitation over the last century. Our investigation is based on tree-rings taken from trees located in forest and grassland sites in southern Brazil. Differences in carbon isotopic composition (d 13 C), 13 CO 2 discrimination (D 13 C) and intracellular carbon concentration (C i ) are also reported.Our results indicate an age effect on D 13 C in forest trees during the first decades of growth. This age effect is not linked to an initial BAI suppression, suggesting the previous existence of nonforested vegetation in the forest sites. After maturity all trees show similar temporal trends in carbon isotope-derived variables and increasing iWUE, however, absolute values are significantly different between forest and grassland sites. The iWUE is higher in forest trees, indicating greater water competition or nutritional availability, relative to grassland, or both. BAI is also higher in forest trees, but it is not linked with iWUE or atmospheric CO 2 . Nevertheless, in both forest and grassland sites A. angustifolia has had growth limitations corresponding to low precipitation and high temperatures observed in the 1940s.

Information on the timing and dynamics of tree ring formation is essential to assess the seasonal behavior of secondary wood growth and its associated environmental influences. Araucaria angustifolia is a dominant species in highland pluvial ecosystems of southeastern South America. Previous investigations indicated that their growth rings are formed annually, but no information exists about the timing of growth ring formation and the environmental triggers influencing cambium activity. In this paper we examine inter-and intra-annual cambial activity in A. angustifolia, through anatomical and dendrochronological evidence at two study sites, and model the relationships between regional climate variation and intraannual tree ring formation. The results confirm the annual growth ring formation in A. angustifolia and indicate that its growth season extends from October to April. Day length and temperature were the main environmental factors influencing the seasonal cambium activity. Our results evidence the dendrochronological potential of A. angustifolia for ecological and climatological studies in southeastern South America.

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Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) O. Kuntze (Araucariaceae) is a Neotropical tree, widely distributed in subtropical mountain rain forests and nearby natural grasslands of Southern Brazil. This species produces annual growth rings, but its dendroclimatic potential is barely known. In the present paper, the long-term growth patterns of A. angustifolia were investigated using annual growth ring time series and association to climate over the last century.Wood cores of A. angustifolia trees growing in forest and grassland habitats were obtained with an increment borer.The cores were surfaced, measured and cross-dated.The dated ring-width time series were standardized and submitted to correlation and principal component analysis to verify growth trends among sites and trees. Growthclimate relationships were investigated using correlation and regression analyses, comparing the ordination axes scores to regional time series of precipitation and temperature. Due to anatomical irregularities, mainly partial rings, only 35 out of 60 trees were cross-dated. The correlation and ordination analyses showed common tree-growth trends within and between sites, indicative of a regional environmental force determining inter-annual cambial activity variation. Despite growing in distinct habitats and disturbance regimes, A. angustifolia trees share a common long-term growth pattern, which is significantly related to thermal conditions during the current and previous growing seasons. Moreover, site-specific characteristics may have influenced opposite growth responses and association to climate conditions between forest and grassland trees.

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