Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phenological Responses to Seasonality in Tropical Forest Plants

  • Chapter
Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology

Abstract

Tropical rainforests include more plant species than any other habitat (Gentry, 1988). An unmatched variety of phenological patterns contributes to this diversity. This variety is illustrated by the one tropical forest for which the reproductive phenologies of most plants are known. On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, most species flower and fruit during short, predictable periods; still more than 600 species have been recorded in flower and in fruit during each calendar month (Croat, 1975, 1978).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aide, T. M. (1988) Herbivory as a selective agent on the timing of leaf production in a tropical understory community. Nature, 336, 574–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alencar, J. da C., de Almeida, R. A. & Fernandes, N. P. (1979) Fenologia de especies florestais em floresta tropical umida de terra firme na Amazonia Central. Acta Amazonica, 9, 163–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvim, P. de T. & Alvim, R. (1978) Relation of climate to growth periodicity in tropical trees. Tropical Trees as Living Systems (eds. P. B. Tomlinson & M. H. Zimmermann) Cambridge University Press, London, pp 445–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M., Yabuki, K. & Koyama, H. (1975) Micrometeorology and assessment of primary production of a tropical rainforest in West Malaysia. Journal of Agricultural Meteorology, 31, 115–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashton, P. S., Givnish, T. J. & Appanah, S. (1988) Staggered flowering in the Dipterocarpaceae, new insights into floral induction, and the evolution of mast fruiting in the aseasonal tropics. American Naturalist, 132, 44r-66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Augspurger, C. K. (1981) Reproductive synchrony of a tropical shrub, experimental studies on effects of pollinators and seed predators on Hybanthus prunifolius (Violaceae). Ecology, 62, 775–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Augspurger, C. K. (1982) A cue for synchronous flowering. The Ecology of a Tropical Forest (eds. E. G. Leigh, Jr., A. S. Rand & D. M. Windsor) Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., pp 133–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bawa, K. S. (1983) Patterns of flowering in tropical plants. Handbook of Experimental Pollination Biology, (eds. C. E. Jones & R. J. Little) Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, pp 394–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, P. & Castillo, A. (1990) Root architecture of shrubs and saplings in the understory of a tropical moist forest in lowland Panama. Biotropica, 22, 242–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernhard-Reversat, F., Huttel, C. & Lemee, G. (1972) Quelques aspects de la periodicite ecologique et de l’activity vegetate saisoniere en foret ombrophile sempervirente de Cote-d’ivoire. Papers from a Symposium on Tropical Ecology with an Emphasis on Organic Production (eds. F. B. Golley & R. Misra) University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, pp 219–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Björkman, O. & Ludlow, M. M. (1972) Characterization of the light climate on the floor of a Queensland rainforest. Carnegie Institution of Washington Yearbook, 71, 85–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borchert, R. (1983) Phenology and control of flowering in tropical trees. Biotropica, 15, 81–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borchert, R. (1994) Soil and stem water storage determine phenology and distribution of tropical dry forest trees. Ecology, 75, 1437–1449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, K. J. & Hsiao, T. C. (1982) Physiological responses to moderate water stress. Physiological Plant Ecology II. Water Relations and Carbon Assimilation (eds. O. L. Lange, P. S. Nobel, C. B. Osmond & H. Ziegler) Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, New Series, Volume 12B. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 262–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brokaw, N. (1985) Gap-phase regeneration in a tropical forest. Ecology, 66, 682–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, S. H. & Solis-Magallanes, J. A. (1990) Phenology of canopy trees of a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. Biotropica, 22, 22–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buttrose, M. S. & Alexander, D. McE. (1978) Promotion of floral initiation in ‘fuerte’ avocado by low temperature and short daylength. Scientia Horticulturae, 8, 213–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F. S., III. (1980) The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 11, 23&-260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F. S., III, Schulze, E. -D. & Mooney, H. A. (1990) The ecology and economics of storage in plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 21, 423–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charles-Dominique, P. (1977) Ecology and Behaviour of Nocturnal Primates. Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chazdon, R. L. & Fetcher, N. (1984) Light environments of tropical forests. Physiological Ecology of Plants of the Wet Tropics (eds. E. Medina, H. A. Mooney & C. Vazquez-Yanes) Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, pp 27–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiariello, N. R., Field C. B. & Mooney H. A. (1987) Midday wilting in a tropical pioneer tree. Functional Ecology, 1, 3–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A. & Clark, D. B. (1994) Climate induced annual variation in canopy tree growth in a Costa Rican tropical rainforest. Journal of Ecology, 82, 865–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coley, P. D. (1980) Effects of leaf age and plant life history patterns on herbivory. Nature, 284, 545–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Condit, R., Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. (1995) Changes in tree species abundance in a Neotropical forest over eight years, impact of climate change. Journal of Tropical Ecology, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornejo, F. H., Verala, A. & Wright, S. J. (1994) Tropical forest litter decomposition under seasonal drought: Nutrient release, fungi and bacteria. Oikos, 70, 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coster, C. (1932) Wortelstudien in de tropen. I. De jeugdontwikkeling van een zeventigtal boomen en groenbemesters. Tectona, 25, 828–872.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croat, T. B. (1975) Phenological behavior of habit and habitat classes on Barro Colorado Island (Panama Canal Zone). Biotropica, 7, 270–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croat, T. B. (1978) Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doley, D., Yates, D. J. & Unwin G. L. (1987) Photosynthesis in an Australian rainforest tree, Argyrodendron peralatum, during the rapid development and relief of water deficits in the dry season. Oecologia, 74, 441–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, L. T. (1980) The natural history of crop yield. American Scientist, 68, 388–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanjul, L. & Barradas, V. L. (1987) Diurnal and seasonal variation in the water relations of some deciduous and evergreen trees of a deciduous dry forest of the western coast of Mexico. Journal of Applied Ecology, 24, 289–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, B., Howe, H. F. & S. J. Wright. (1991) Survival and growth of Virola surinamensis yearlings: Water augmentation in gap and understory. Oecologia, 86, 292–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankie, G. W., Baker, H. G. & Opler, P. A. (1974) Comparative phenological studies of trees in tropical wet and dry forests in the lowlands of Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology, 62, 881–919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankie, G. W., Haber, W. A., Opler, P. A. & Bawa, K. S. (1983) Characteristics and organization of the large bee pollination system in the Costa Rican dry forest. Handbook of Experimental Pollination Biology (eds. C. E. Jones & R. J. Little) Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp 441–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garwood, N. C. (1983) Seed germination in a seasonal tropical forest in Panama: A community study. Ecological Monographs, 53, 159–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gentry, A. H. (1988) Changes in plant community diversity and floristic composition on environmental and geographical gradients. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 75, 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastenrath, S. (1985) Climate and Circulation of the Tropics. D. Reidel Publishing Co., Dordrecht, Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, A. (1978) Phenology of leaf production in rainforest of Gabon: Distribution and composition of food for folivores. The Ecology of Arboreal Folivores (ed. G. G. Montgomery), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., pp 51–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, C. M. (1973) Alimentation et activite d’un groupe de chimpanzes reintroduits en foret Gabonaise. Terre et Vie, 27, 343–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, B. (1966) Vegetation of the Olokemeji forest reserve, Nigeria IV. The litter and soil, with special reference to their seasonal changes. Journal of Ecology, 54, 687–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen, D. H. (1967) Synchronization of sexual reproduction of trees within the dry season in Central America. Evolution, 21, 620–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen, D. H. (1972) Jacquinia pungens, a heliophile from the understory of tropical deciduous forest. Biotropica, 2, 112–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen, D. H. (1973) Sweep samples of tropical foliage insects: Effects of seasons, vegetation types, elevation, time of day and insularity. Ecology, 54, 687–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen, D. H. (1980) Specificity of seed-attacking beetles in a Costa Rican deciduous forest. Journal of Ecology, 68, 929–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P. L. & Atwood, D. M. (1970) Aerial sensing and photographic study of the El Verde rainforest. A Tropical Rain Forest (ed. H. T. Odum), Division of Technical Information, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C., pp B-63-B-78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, M. M., Turner, N. C. & Osmond, C. B. (1981) Mechanisms of drought resistance. The Physiology and Biochemistry of Drought Resistance in Plants (eds. L. G. Paleg & D. Aspinall), Academic Press, Sydney, Australia, pp 15–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kapos, V. (1989) Effects of isolation on the water status of forest patches in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 5, 173–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kira, T., Shinozaki, K. & Hozumi, K. (1969) Structure of forest canopies as related to their primary productivity. Plant and Cell Physiology, 10, 129–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koppen, W. (1936) Das geographische system der Klimate. Handbuch der Klimatologie, Vol. I (eds. W. Koppen & W. Geiger) Teil C. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leigh, E. G. Jr., Windsor, D. M., Rand, S. A. & Foster, R. B. (1990) The impact of the El Nino drought of 1982–1983 on a Panamanian semidecidu-ous forest. Global Ecological Consequences of the 1982–1983 El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ed. P. W. Glynn) Elsevier Press, New York, pp 473–486.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. & Lieberman, M. (1982) The causes and consequences of synchronous flushing in a dry tropical forest. Biotropica, 16, 193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lodge, D. J., McDowell, W. H. & McSwiney, C. P. (1994) The importance of nutrient pulses in tropical forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 384–387.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Machado, J. -L. & Tyree, M. T. (1994) Patterns of hydraulic architecture and water relations of two tropical canopy trees with contrasting leaf phenologies: Ochroma pyramidale and Pseudobombax septenatum. Tree Physiology, 14, 219–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquis, R. J. (1987) Variacion en la herbivoria foliar y su importancia selectiva en Piper arieianum (Piperaceae). Revista de Biologia Tropical, 35 (supp. 1), 133–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medina, E. (1983) Adaptations of tropical trees to moisture stress. Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems (ed. F. B. Golley), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 225–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulkey, S. S., Smith, A. P. & Wright, S. J. (1991) Comparative life history and physiology of two understory neotropical herbs. Oecologia, 88, 263–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, M. J. (1982) Selected climate data for a global set of standard stations for vegetation science. Tasks for Vegetation Science 5. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newstrom, L. E., Frankie, G. W., Baker, H. G. & Colwell, R. K. (1994) Diversity of long-term flowering patterns. La Selva (ed. L. A. McDade, K. S. Bawa, H. A. Hespenheide & G. S. Hartshorn) University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, pp 142–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Njoku, E. (1963) Seasonal periodicity in the growth and development of some forest trees in Nigeria. Journal of Ecology, 51, 617–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer, S. F. (1985) Plant water relations of selected species in wet and dry tropical lowland forests in Costa Rica. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 33, 137–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer, S. F. & Strain, B. R. (1986) Effects of canopy position and irradiance on the leaf physiology and morphology of Pentaclethra macro-loba (Mimosaceae). American Journal of Botany, 73, 409–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberbauer, S. F., Strain, B. R., & Riechers, G. H. (1987) Field water relations of a wet-tropical forest tree species, Pentaclethra macroloba (Mimosaceae). Oecologia, 71, 369–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opler, P. A., Frankie, G. W. & Baker, H. G. (1976) Rainfall as a factor in the release, timing, and synchronization of anthesis by tropical trees and shrubs. Journal of Biogeography, 3, 231–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy, R. W. (1983) The light environment and growth of C3 and C4 tree species in the understory of a Hawaiian forest. Oecologia, 58, 19–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearcy, R. W. (1987) Photosynthetic gas exchange responses of Australian tropical forest trees in canopy, gap, and understory microenvironments. Functional Ecology, 1, 169–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, P. B. & Borchert, R. (1982) Phenology and ecophysiology of the tropical tree, Tabebuia neochrysantha (Bignoniaceae). Ecology, 63, 294–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, P. B. & Borchert, R. (1984) Water stress and tree phenology in a tropical dry forest in the lowlands of Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology, 72, 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, P. B. & Borchert, R. (1988) Changes with leaf age in stomatal function and water status of several tropical tree species. Biotropica, 20, 60–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabatier, D. (1985) Saisonalite et determinisme du pic de fructification en foret guyanaise. Terre et la Vie, 40, 289–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salati, E., Dall’Olio, A., Matsui, E. & Bat, J. A. (1979) Recycling of water in the Amazon basin: An isotopic study. Water Resources, 15, 1250–1258.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarmiento, G., Goldstein, G. & Meinzer, F. (1985) Adaptive strategies of woody species in neotropical savannas. Biological Reviews, 60, 315–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimpfer, A. F. W. (1903) Plant Geography Upon a Physiological Basis. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, J. P. (1960) Ecological Studies in Northern Suriname. Noord-Hollandse Uitgeversmaatschappij, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shukla, T., Nobre, C. & Sellers, P. (1990) Amazon deforestation and climate change. Science, 247, 1322–1325.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sobrado, M. A. (1986) Aspects of tissue water relations and seasonal changes of leaf water potential components of evergreen and deciduous species coexisting in tropical dry forests. Oecologia, 68, 413–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobrado, M. A. & Cuenca, G. (1979) Aspectos del uso de agua de especies deciduas y siempreverdes en un bosque seco tropical de Venezuela. Acta Cientifica Venezolana, 30, 302–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Schaik, C. P. (1986) Phenological changes in a Sumatran rainforest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 2, 327–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Schaik, C. P., Terborgh, J. W. & Wright, S. J. (1993) The phenology of tropical forests: Adaptive significance and consequences for primary consumers. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 24, 353–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. M. & Denslow, J. S. (1986) Nitrogen and phosphorus availability in treefall gaps of a lowland tropical forest. Journal of Ecology, 74, 1167–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitmore, T. C. (1984) The Tropical Rain Forests of the Far East. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Windsor, D. M. (1990) Climate and moisture variability in a tropical forest, long-term records for Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian Contributions to Earth Sciences, 29, 1–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolda, H. (1978) Seasonal fluctuations in rainfall, food, and abundance of tropical insects. Journal of Animal Ecology, 47, 369–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolda, H. (1988) Insect seasonality: Why? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 19, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J. (1990) Cumulative satiation of a seed predator over the fruiting season of its host. Oikos, 58, 272–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J. (1991) Seasonal drought and the phenology of shrubs in a tropical moist forest. Ecology, 72, 1643–1657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J. & Cornejo, F. H. (1990a) Seasonal drought and the timing of flowering and leaf fall in a neotropical forest. Reproductive Ecology of Tropical Forest Plants (eds. K. S. Bawa & M. Hadley), Man and the Biosphere Series, UNESCO, Paris and Parthenon Publishing, Carnforth, England, pp 49–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J. & Cornejo, F. H. (1990b) Seasonal drought and leaf fall in a tropical forest. Ecology, 71, 1165–1175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J. & Van Schaik, C. P. (1994) Light and the phenology of tropical trees. American Naturalist, 143, 192–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, S. J., Machado, J. L., Mulkey, S. S. & Smith, A. P. (1992) Drought acclimation among tropical forest shrubs (Psychotria, Rubiaceae). Oecologia, 89, 457–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wycherley, P. R. (1973) The phenology of plants in the humid tropics. Micronesica, 9, 75–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoda, K. (1974) Three-dimensional distribution of light intensity in a tropical rainforest of west Malaysia. Japanese Journal of Ecology, 24, 247–254.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. S. Joseph Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Stephen S. Mulkey

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Robin L. Chazdon

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Chapman & Hall

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wright, S.J. (1996). Phenological Responses to Seasonality in Tropical Forest Plants. In: Mulkey, S.S., Chazdon, R.L., Smith, A.P. (eds) Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1163-8_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1163-8_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8493-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1163-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation