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Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees

La diversité des défoliations et les traits phénologiques d’arbres clés de la forêt sèche tropicale indienne

Annals of Forest Science volume 67, page 310 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • In seasonally dry tropical forests deciduousness (leaflessness) is an important strategy of trees to survive in water stress period during summer. Deciduousness is a reflection of interacted effect of seasonal drought, tree characteristics and soil moisture conditions.

  • • The present study aims to document the diversity in leaf pheno-phases in terms of duration of deciduousness (which is reciprocal to growing season length), wood density, leaf mass per area (LMA) and leaf strategy index in 24 important tree species growing in the Vindhyan dry tropical forest in India.

  • • On the basis of phenological observations, the tree species were categorized into two main groups: leaf exchanging species exhibiting overlapping periods of leaf fall and leaf flush, and deciduous species whose timings of leaf flush and leaf fall differ resulting in a time lag (deciduousness) between the completion of leaf fall and initiation of leaf flush. Presence of wide range of deciduousness duration (from ca. a week to 7 months) among dry tropical trees indicates large variations in their growing season length. In the tree species studied, as the duration of deciduousness increased, leaf flushing period decreased significantly but leaf fall period showed little variation.

  • • Differing deciduousness in tree species exhibited substantial differences in their leafing (vegetative growth) pattern, as reflected by ratio of durations of leaf flush to leaf fall (leaf strategy index). Across different species, duration of deciduousness was significantly positively correlated with leaf strategy index, and significantly negatively correlated with both wood density and LMA.

  • • Wide variations in deciduousness, leaf strategy index, wood density and LMA in the 24 species investigated indicate considerable functional diversity in tree species growing in Vindhyan dry tropical region. Variation in seasonal duration of deciduousness among species is reflections of differences in tree functional traits like stem wood density, leaf strategy index and LMA.

Résumé

  • • Dans les forêts sèches tropicales saisonnières, la défoliation est une stratégie importante des arbres pour survivre dans les périodes de stress hydrique durant l’été. La défoliation est un reflet de l’interaction entre la sécheresse saisonnière, les caractéristiques des arbres et les conditions d’humidité du sol.

  • • La présente étude vise à documenter la diversité des phénophases des feuilles en termes, de durée de la défoliation (qui est réciproque à la durée de la saison de croissance), de densité du bois, de masse foliaire par unité de surface (LMA) et d’indice de stratégie des feuilles chez 24 importantes espèces d’arbres poussant dans la forêt sèche tropicale de Vindhyan en Inde.

  • • Sur la base d’observations phénologiques, les espèces d’arbres ont été classées en deux groupes principaux : espèces présentant des périodes de chevauchement de la chute des feuilles et de la feuillaison et espèces décidues dont les rythmes de feuillaison et de chute des feuilles diffèrent d’où un décalage dans le temps entre la fin de la chute des feuilles et l’initiation de la feuillaison. La présence d’une large variation de la durée de défoliation (environ d’une semaine à 7 mois) parmi les arbres tropicaux secs indique de grandes variations dans la longueur de leur saison de croissance. Chez les espèces d’arbres étudiées, comme la durée de défoliation augmente, la période de feuillaison diminue significativement, mais la période de chute des feuilles montre peu de variations.

  • • Différentes défoliation chez les espèces ont montré des différences importantes dans leur modèle de croissance végétative, comme en témoignent les taux des durées de feuillaison par rapport à la chute des feuilles (indice de stratégie de la feuille). A travers les différentes espèces, la durée de défoliationétait significativement positivement corrélée avec l’indice de stratégie de la feuille, et significativement corrélée négativement avec la densité du bois et LMA.

  • • Des écarts importants de défoliation, d’indice de stratégie de la feuille, de densité du bois et LMA, chez les 24 espèces étudiées montrent une diversité fonctionnelle considérable chez les espèces poussant dans la région tropicale sèche de Vindhyan. Les variations saisonnières entre espèces de la durée de défoliation sont les reflets de différences dans des caractéristiques fonctionnelles comme la densité du bois des tiges, l’indice de stratégie de feuilles et LMA.

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Author notes

  1. Chandra Prakash Kushwaha

    Present address: Center for Environmental Science & Technology, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India

  2. Shri Kant Tripathi

    Present address: Department of Forestry, Mizoram University, 796009, Aizawl, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India

    Chandra Prakash Kushwaha, Shri Kant Tripathi, Gopal Shankar Singh & Kaushlendra Pratap Singh

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  1. Chandra Prakash Kushwaha
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  2. Shri Kant Tripathi
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  3. Gopal Shankar Singh
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  4. Kaushlendra Pratap Singh
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Correspondence to Chandra Prakash Kushwaha.

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Kushwaha, C.P., Tripathi, S.K., Singh, G.S. et al. Diversity of deciduousness and phenological traits of key Indian dry tropical forest trees. Ann. For. Sci. 67, 310 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009116

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Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X