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Tree phenology in montane forests of southern Ecuador can be explained by precipitation, radiation and photoperiodic control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2008

Sven Günter ,
Bernd Stimm ,
Manuel Cabrera ,
Maria Luisa Diaz ,
Manuel Lojan ,
Eduardo Ordoñez ,
Michael Richter  and
Michael Weber
Sven Günter*
Affiliation:
Institute of Silviculture, Centre of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Germany
Bernd Stimm
Affiliation:
Institute of Silviculture, Centre of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Germany
Manuel Cabrera
Affiliation:
Area Agropecuaria y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Ecuador
Maria Luisa Diaz
Affiliation:
Area Agropecuaria y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Ecuador
Manuel Lojan
Affiliation:
Area Agropecuaria y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Ecuador
Eduardo Ordoñez
Affiliation:
Area Agropecuaria y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Ecuador
Michael Richter
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
Michael Weber
Affiliation:
Institute of Silviculture, Centre of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Current address: Lehrstuhl für Waldbau, Am Hochanger 13, 85354 Freising, Germany. Email: sven_gunter@yahoo.de
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Abstract:

We investigated the effect of seasonality on tree phenology in the tropical montane rain forest of southern Ecuador and analysed possible triggering factors. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) Interspecific synchronization of flowering and fruiting phenology is higher at study sites with pronounced rainfall seasonality compared with sites within perhumid forests. (2) Proximate causes for flowering in closely situated seasonal and perhumid sites are either photoperiodicity or climatic factors. Two nearby study sites with contrasting precipitation patterns were selected at the same altitude east and west of the western Cordillera. Eighty trees from 13 species were observed over a 2.5-y period. Three species were common to both study sites. Phenological and climate data were collected and cross-correlated by conducting a time-series analysis. At the perhumid site, very clear annual patterns of phenological behaviour could be observed for most of the selected rain-forest tree species, but with a poor interspecific synchronization. On the nearby seasonal site in contrast, most species showed high synchrony in their phenological behaviour coinciding with the dry season. There is strong evidence that flowering is induced not by one factor alone: we identified photoperiodic control, radiation and precipitation as possible proximate causes for both sites. Our results confirm studies which state that these factors are closely linked to each other in the tropics.

Keywords

Ecuadormountain ecosystemregional variationseasonalitySouth Americatree phenologytropical rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 247 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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