Relationships between Woodland Phenology, Precipitation, and Flooding Patterns in the Brazilian Pantanal Wetland

The Pantanal, a large wetland in the centre of the South American continent, is a heterogeneous ecosystem and has complex relationships with climatic and geomorphic factors. Here, we investigated the relationships between woodland phenology, rainfall, and flooding patterns along the north-south gradient of the Pantanal. The average values of monthly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) time series, rainfall from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS), and water level from gauge stations for the 2015-2022 period were used to monitor phenology, rainfall, and flooding cycles. The relationships were assessed using Pearson’s correlation. Rainfall has steady patterns across the gradient, and phenology positively responds to it, notably southward, where deciduous trees dominate. Flooding is regionally asynchronous. Although the correlation between phenology and flooding is predominantly negative in the south, patches with positive responses indicate that flood seasonalities are important drivers of local vegetation variability.