Abstract
Phenophase of three common co-occuring woody plant species that varied in stature (tree Vs shrub) were examined in a sal forest of Kumaun Himalaya. The significance of phonological research lies in the fact that it constitutes a synthetic approach to evaluating plant response to the local environment. Monthly counts of leaves, flowers, fruits and shoot measurement were made on 150 tagged twigs on ten individuals of each species for initiation, completion and duration of different phenological events. In all species, leaves emerged during March-May on the onset of warm and dry summer season. Across all the species, peak leaf area per shoot (9.87-179.14 cm2), leaf extension period (5-7 weeks), shoot extension growth (9.23-20.11 cm), shoot extension period (24-25 weeks) varied considerably. A significant relationship was found between shoot diameter, shoot length and leaf area extension across all species. Increasing day length/temperature induce flowering in S. robusta and M. paniculata during hot dry summer and the first heavy rain in month of August act as a flowering cue in M. philippinensis during the rainy season.
Highlights
Phenological events are very closely related to temperature fluctuations
The hypothesis was tested that in tropical deciduous forest trees flowering periodicity has evolved as an adaptation to the annual leafless duration and the time required for fruit development
Average leafing period was recorded maximum for S. robusta (7 weeks) followed by M. phillippinensis (6 weeks) and M. paniculata (5 weeks)
Summary
A minute change in temperature can trigger early/delayed leafing, flowering in plants/trees. Global climate change may force variation in timing, duration and synchronization of phenological events in tropical forests (Reich, 1995). Tropical trees are expected to respond variously to changes in rainfall and temperature because they differ widely with respect to adaptations to seasonal drought and cues for bud break of vegetative and flower buds (Singh and Kushwaha, 2005). Several researches reported signification variation in flowering (advanced or delayed) (Fitter and Fitter, 2002) and fruiting responses (Chapman et al, 2005) in tree species as a result of climatic change. The need for functional types has been emphasize to evaluate and predict the nature of vegetation responses to future global change (Box, 1996)
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