Phenology of woody species in a typical cerrado in the Bacaba Municipal Park, Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this study was to characterize the phenological behavior of 12 woody species, which together represent 41% of the Importance Value Index (IVI) of a typical cerrado (Brazilian savanna) in the Bacaba Municipal Park (Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso), and to relate it to climatic variables, including precipitation, minimum temperatures, maximum temperatures and Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD). Phenological observations were made every 15 days, from September 2008 to October 2009. Estimates were made of total leaf cover in the canopy, leaf flushing, relative proportion of young, adult, and senescent leaves and flowering and fruiting. Based on phenological vegetative events, four species were classified as evergreen with continuous growth (Myrcia lanuginosa O. Berg., Ouratea hexasperma (A. St.-Hil.) Baill., Ouratea spectabilis (Mart. ex Engl.) Engl. e Roupala montana Aubl.), one as evergreen with seasonal growth (Byrsonima pachyphylla Kunth), two as brevideciduous (Davilla elliptica A. St.-Hil., Eugenia aurata O. Berg.), and five as deciduous (Byrsonima coccolobifolia Kunth, Kielmeyera rubriflora Cambess., Qualea grandiflora Mart., Qualea multiflora Mart. and Qualea parviflora Mart.). All species showed an annual, unimodal flowering pattern, with different species flowering during distinct periods of the year. The fruit maturation of autochoric and anemochoric species occurred within the dry season mostly; zoochoric species dispersed seeds mainly during the wet season or during the transition between dry and rainy seasons. Leaf fall, estimated from leaf canopy cover, was negatively and significantly correlated to maximum temperature and vapor pressure deficit in 11 out of 12 species studied (except R. montana), suggesting that increasing temperature and evaporative demand induce foliar abscission. Leaf flushing was positively and significantly correlated to minimum temperature in nine species (except M. lanuginosa, R. montana and Q. grandiflora). Our results suggest that there is a strong relationship between the phenological events of the studied woody species and climatic conditions, with vegetative events like abscission and flushing showing the strongest associations.