Phenotypic variation of Brazilian Savannah plants in response to environmental heterogeneity

Phenotypic variation of Brazilian Savannah plants in response to environmental heterogeneity. This article is a bibliographic research that presents a comparative data synthesis from five previous published studies and describes the phenotypic variation of vegetative and reproductive traits of seven plant species in an Ecological Reserve, in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais (Brasil; 18 degrees 55'S; 48 degrees 17'W). The phenotypic variation was investigated in an ecotone where the emergency of springs has originated a palm-swamp in an area occupied by the cerrado sensu stricto vegetation (Brazilian Savannah). All plant populations show some kind of morphological alteration of both reproductive and vegetative traits in response to environmental heterogeneity, which allows the characterization of subpopulations, an aspect that suggests an increase of the variability of both vegetative and reproductive traits. There is a unique way in which each plant interacts with the ecotone edaphic humidity pattern. Besides, phenotypic adjustments act in an extensive way, connecting the distinct organism traits in a complex integrative process.