Vegetatio

, Volume 122, Issue 1, pp 69–82 | Cite as

Phenology of Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) chouard, Melittis melissophyllum L. and Symphytum tuberosum L. in two deciduous forests in the Cantabrian mountains, Northwest Spain

  • G. González Sierra
  • A. Penas Merino
  • E. Alonso Herrero
Article
Accepted:

Abstract

We compared the flowering and fruiting phenology of Symphytum tuberosum L. (Boraginaceae), Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Chouard (Liliaceae) and Melittis melissophyllum L. (Labiatae) in a beech wood and an oak wood situated in the same valley, taking into account their different microclimatic and edaphic characteristics and carrying out correlation and simple regression analyses. Differences observed in the phenological cycles of the species studied included earlier flowering and longer cycles in the oak wood, except for H. non-scripta. The most important climatic factors were soil moisture and the relative humidity, followed by temperature and the number of daylight hours and photosynthetically active radiation (P.A.R.). The M. melissophyllum cycle depended mainly on water availability, H. non-scripta on solar radiation, soil moisture and a temperature threshold value, while no specific climatic parameter was found to affect S. tuberosum. Temperature was found to be less important than previously believed as it seems only to correlate with S. tuberosum flowering. The strong correlation observed in the fruiting of the three species indicated clear synchronization.

Key words

Air temperature Edaphic moisture Fagus sylvatica Forest micrometeorology Meteorological station P.A.R. Photoperiodicity Quercus pyrenaica Relative humidity Tree foliation 
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Copyright information

© Kluwer Academic Publishers 1996

Authors and Affiliations

  • G. González Sierra
    • 1
  • A. Penas Merino
    • 1
  • E. Alonso Herrero
    • 2
  1. 1.Dpto. Biología Vegetal (Botánica) Fac. de BiologíaUniversidad de LeónLeónEspaña
  2. 2.Dpto. Ecología, Genética y Microbiología, Fac. de BiologíaUniversidad de LeónLeónEspaña

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