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Phenology of Ficus spp. in a tropical dry forest, Mudumalai, south India

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Abstract

The phenology of figs (Ficus spp. Moraceae) is being monitored in the dry forests of Mudumalai, southern India and individuals belonging to the genus are marked with unique tag numbers and their vegetative and reproductive phenologies have been monitored since August 2000 on a monthly basis. The influence of abiotic factors on fig phenology and the differences between fig and non-fig phenologies are being examined. The seasonality of different phenophases of fig phenology is also being examined. The maximum intensity of leaf flush occurred in drier months. Fig and non-fig species showed significant differences with expansion and senescence phenophases of leafing. Flowering also occurred in drier months. There were significant differences between fig and non-fig species with reproductive phenophases. As with non-fig species, leafing was influenced by maximum temperatures. Both vegetative and reproductive phenophases were significantly seasonal.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for funding CES. We thank Tamilnadu Forest department for permissions. We would like to express our gratitude to forest officials of Mudumalai reserve for their support and cooperation. We thank Mr. C.M. Bharanaiah for his cooperation during field observations. We thank Mr. Mani and Mr. Selva for their help during field work. We thank our field guides Mr. Bomman, Mr. Krishna, Mr. Siddan, Mr. Maran, Mr. Kunmari, Mr. Rajan, Mr. Aloo and Mr. Manban for their help during field observations. We would like to thank our colleagues at the CES field station for their encouragement and support. Finally we thank two referees for their comments on the manuscript. We also thank copy editor for the editorial inputs.

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  1. Center for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    H. S. Suresh & R. Sukumar

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  1. H. S. Suresh
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  2. R. Sukumar
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Correspondence to H. S. Suresh.

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Project funding: This project was funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Government of India under an umbrella grant to Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science.

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com

Corresponding editor: Hu Yanbo.

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Suresh, H.S., Sukumar, R. Phenology of Ficus spp. in a tropical dry forest, Mudumalai, south India. J. For. Res. 29, 1129–1138 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0513-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0513-5

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