Abstract
Phenological patterns in tropical plants usually are associated with the clear seasonality of rainfall associated with very different wet and dry seasons. In southern Brazil, in a subtropical forest with no pronounced dry season (average annual precipitation = 1389 mm, minimum monthly average c. 75 mm), plant phenology was studied to test for patterns (periodicity), to examine how phenological patterns vary among life-forms, and to test whether phenological cycles are associated with climatic variables. Thirty-seven plant species in four life-forms (trees, shrubs, lianas and epiphytes) were studied for 2 yr (1996-98) in an Araucaria forest remnant in southern Brazil, in the state of Paraná. Correlation and multiple regression methods established relationships between phenology and climate in terms of daylength, temperature and rainfall. In this Araucaria forest, plants showed seasonality in most life-forms and phenological phases. Leaf-fall, with its peak during the drier months (April to July), was the most seasonal. Flushing and flowering occurred during the wetter months (September to December), while fruiting occurred all year long. Phenologies varied among life-forms, and were strongly associated with daylength or temperature of preceding months, suggesting that plants receive their phenological cues well in advance of their phenological response. Phenologies in this Araucaria forest appear to be associated with the most predictable and highly correlated of the climatic variables, daylength and temperature and least so with rainfall, which is unpredictable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvim P.T. 1967. Periodicidade do crescimento das árvores em climas tropicais. In: Anais do XV Congresso Nacional de Botânica, pp. 405–422.
Arroyo M.T.K., Armesto J.J. and Villagrán C. 1981. Plant phenological patterns in the high andean cordillera of central Chile. Journal of Ecology 69: 205–223.
Borchert R. 1983. Phenology and control of flowering in tropical trees. Biotropica 15: 81–89.
Britez R.M., Castella P.R., Tiepolo G. and Pires L.A. 2000. Estratégias de conservação da floresta com araucária para o estado do Paraná. Diagnóstico da vegetação. In: Anais do 2o Congresso Brasileiro de Unidades de Conservação, pp. 731–737.
Croat T.B. 1975. Phenological behavior of habitat classes on Barro Colorado Island (Panama Canal Zone). Biotropica 7: 270–277.
Dittrich V.A.O., Kozera C. and Silva S.M. 1999. Composição florística de epífitos vasculares em área de floresta ombrófila mista (Parque Barigüi), Curitiba, PR. Iheringia (Série Botânica) 52: 11–22.
Fournier L.A. and Charpantier C. 1975. El tamaño de la muestra y la frecuencia de las observaciones en el estudio de las características fenológicas de los árboles tropicales. Turrialba 25: 45–48.
Frankie G.W., Baker H.G. and 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: 881–913.
Hilty S.L. 1980. Flowering and fruiting periodicity in a premontane rain forest in pacific Colombia. Biotropica 12: 292–306.
Hueck K. 1953. Distribuição e habitat natural do pinheiro-doparaná (Araucaria angustifolia). Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade de São Paulo – Botânica 10: 1–24.
Iapar. 1978. Cartas climáticas básicas do estado do Paraná. Fundação Instituto Agronômico do Paraná.
Kinnaird M. 1992. Phenology of flowering and fruiting of an east African riverine forest ecosystem. Biotropica 24: 187–194.
Larcher W. 2000. Ecofisiologia vegetal. RiMa, São Carlos.
Leite P.F. 1994. As diferentes unidades fitoecológicas da região sul do Brasil – proposta de classificação, Unpublished Masters Thesis, Dept. of Forestry, UFPR, Curitiba.
Lieberman D. 1982. Seasonality and phenology in a dry tropical forest in Ghana. Journal of Ecology 70: 791–806.
Lieberman D. and Lieberman M. 1984. The causes and consequences of synchronous flushing in a dry tropical forest. Biotropica 16: 193–201.
Lieth H. 1974. Phenology and seasonality modeling. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Longman K.A. and Jeník J. 1987. Tropical forest and its environment. Longman Scientific and Technical, New York.
Morellato L.P.C., Rodrigues R.R., Leitão-Filho H.F. and Joly C.A. 1989. Estudo comparativo da fenologia de espécies arbóreas de floresta de altitude e floresta mesófila semidecídua na Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, São Paulo. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 12: 85– 98.
Morellato P.C. and Leitão-Filho H.F. 1996. Reproductive phenology of climbers in a southeastern Brazilian forest. Biotropica 28: 180–191.
Morellato P.C., Talora D.C. Takahashi A., Bencke C.C., Romera E.C. and Zipparro V.B. 2000. Phenology of atlantic rain forest trees: a comparative study. Biotropica 32: 811–823.
Neter J., Wasserman W. and Kutner M.H. 1985. Applied linear statistical models. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood.
Njoku E. 1963. Seasonal periodicity in the growth and development of some forest trees in Nigeria. Journal of Ecology 51: 617–624.
Opler P.A., Frankie G.W. and 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.
Opler P.A., Frankie G.W. and Baker H.G. 1980. Comparative phenological studies of treelet and shrub species in tropical wet and dry forest in the lowlands of Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 68: 167–88.
Rathcke B. and Lacey E.P. 1985. Phenological patterns of terrestrial plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16: 179–214
Rivera G. and Borchert R. 2001. Induction of flowering in tropical trees by a 30-min reduction in photoperiod: evidence from field observations and herbarium specimens. Tree Physiology 21: 201–212.
Sarmiento G. and Monasterio M. 1983. Life-forms and phenology. In: Bourlière F. (Ed.), Ecosystems of the World. Tropical savannas. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 79–108.
Smith-Ramírez C. and Armesto J.J. 1994. Flowering and fruiting patterns in the temperate rainforest of Chiloé – ecologies and climatic constraints. Journal of Ecology 82: 353–365.
Snow D.W. 1965. A possible selective factor in the evolution of fruiting seasons in tropical forest. Oikos 15: 274–281.
Talora D.C. and Morellato P.C. 2000. Fenologia de espécies arbóreas em floresta de planície litorânea do sudeste do Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 23: 13–26.
Ter Steege H. and Persuad C.A. 1991. The phenology of Guyanese timber species: a compilation of a century of observations. Vegetatio 95: 177–198.
Van Schaik C.P., Terborgh J.W. and 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.
Wright S.J. 1991. Seasonal drought and the phenology of understory shrubs in a tropical moist forest. Ecology 72: 1643–1657.
Wright S.J. and Cornejo F.H. 1990. Seasonal drought and leaf fall in a tropical forest. Ecology 71: 1165–1175.
Wright S.J. and Van Schaik C.P. 1994. Light and the phenology of tropical trees. American Naturalist 143: 192–199.
Wright S.J. and Calderon O. 1995. Phylogenetic patterns among tropical flowering phenologies. Journal of Ecology 83: 937–948.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marques, M.C.M., Roper, J.J. & Baggio Salvalaggio, A.P. Phenological patterns among plant life-forms in a subtropical forest in southern Brazil. Plant Ecology 173, 203–213 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:VEGE.0000029325.85031.90
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:VEGE.0000029325.85031.90