Abstract
Phenological documentation and plant invasion are key contemporary issues in the biological sciences. Recognizing this, the present paper describes the phenological stages of an invasive species, Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. A tree of the species was marked, and daily visits were made for recording its phenology. The Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and CHemical industry (BBCH) scale was used for documenting the same. Of the total ten principal stages, eight were observed in the species. These stages started with bud development (stage 01) in the month of March and ended with leaf fall (stage 97) in the month of December. Descriptions of the phenological stages and their dates are provided in the text. It is hoped that such a phenological scale will be helpful in managing plant invasion.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Director, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, for the facilities and support. VJ thanks CSIR for the SRF scholarship. The faculty and members of the IHBT herbarium are acknowledged for their valuable help. This is IHBT communication no. 3552. The authors acknowledge the constructive comments and suggestions of the editor and two anonymous reviewers that helped in improving the manuscript.
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Jaryan, V., Uniyal, S.K., Gupta, R.C. et al. Phenological documentation of an invasive species, Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.. Environ Monit Assess 186, 4423–4429 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3708-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3708-7