Observations on the phenology of two dominant plants of the Greek maquis

Abstract

A great part of the land surface of Greece (approximately 40%) is covered by natural mediterranean type ecosystems. In this area warm and dry summers alternate with mildly cold and wet winters (Aschmann 1973). Rainfall occurs primarily during the late autumn and early winter months. The period of greatest water availability coincides with the period of lowest temperatures. During the dry summer season, temperature are highest and relative humidity is lowest which results in large summer water deficits. Evidence for adaptation to mediterranean climate conditions has been sought through study of both the morphology and the phenology of the mediterranean vegetation. Several phenological studies have been undertaken in Mediterranean-type ecosystems of other parts of the world, e.g. California and Chile (Mooney et al. 1974; Hoffmann and Hoffmann 1976; Mooney and Kummerow 1977; Montenegro et al. 1979; Mooney and Kummerow 1981; Kummerow et al. 1981). In all these studies the phenological changes of the species (evergreen sclerophylls or drought-deciduous) have been found to change characteristically in response to seasonal environmental events in the native habitats.