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Reproductive phenology of 233 species from four herbaceous–shrubby communities in the Gran Sabana Plateau of Venezuela

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Abstract.
Background and aims:
Herbaceous–shrubby communities in the Gran Sabana (Great Savanna) Plateau of Venezuela
grow under non-zonal conditions. We speculated that this would produce specific patterns of
reproductive phenology within these different soil–climate–vegetation associations. Specifically,
we tested the hypothesis that the reproductive phenology patterns of four herbaceous–
shrubby communities are determined by climate, plant life-forms and soil properties.

Methodology:
The reproductive phenology of 233 plant species of the Gran Sabana Plateau of the Venezuelan
Guayana Highlands was studied taking into account their life-forms (i.e. trees, shrubs,
climbers, annual herbs, perennial herbs, epiphytes and parasites/hemiparasites) in four herbaceous–
shrubby communities: (i) shrubland, (ii) secondary bush, (iii) savanna and (iv) broadleaved
meadow. Patterns of flowering, and occurrence of unripe fruit and ripe fruit were
studied at two levels of intensity for 24 months within a 5-year span. Two phenological
records for each month of the year and between two and four replicates for each community
type were made. Randomly selected 2–3 ha plots were used. General phenological patterns
were established using 25% of individuals in each plot to establish times of high abundance of flowers,
and presence of unripe fruit and/or ripe fruit on individual plants. This generated phenological
peaks for each species.

Principal results:
Non-seasonality of general flowering and unripe fruiting in each of the four communities was
related to non-seasonal flowering and unripe fruiting patterns in the plant life-forms studied
and to low variation in precipitation throughout the year. Flowering activity in the shrubland
and broad-leaved meadow peaked twice. The bush community had only one flowering peak
while the savanna gave a non-seasonal flowering peak. The peak unripe fruiting pattern was
not clearly related to unripe fruit phenological patterns of the most abundant life-forms.
Unripe fruit patterns and precipitation were only correlated for shrubs, climbers and trees
in the shrubland. Ripe fruiting patterns peaked during the short-dry season in the bush and
shrubland, and were negatively correlated with precipitation in the shrubland. General and
peak ripe fruiting patterns were non-seasonal in the savanna and broad-leaved meadow
and related to the dominance of herbaceous species with prolonged ripe fruiting times, low
climate seasonality, high plant species richness and diversity, and dispersal syndromes.

Conclusions:
The reproductive phenology of the herbaceous–shrubby communities is mainly influenced by
the composition of the life-forms, the precipitation regime and soil type.

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

AoB PLANTS

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

Oxford : Oxford University Press., 2011

Deskripsi Fisik

AoB PLANTS 2011 plr014 doi:10.1093/aobpla/plr014

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

-

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

2011 plr014

Subjek

PEMULIAAN TANAMAN

Info Detail Spesifik

-

Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

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