Annual Cycles are the Most Common Reproductive Strategy in African Tropical Tree Communities

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorAdamescu, Gabriela S.
dc.contributor.authorPlumptre, Andrew J.
dc.contributor.authorNdangalasi, Henry J.
dc.contributor.authorMugerwa, Badru
dc.contributor.authorGilagiza, Baraka
dc.contributor.authorBitariho, Robert
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-06T17:02:25Z
dc.date.available2023-02-06T17:02:25Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractWe present the first cross-continental comparison of the flowering and fruiting phenology of tropical forests across Africa. Flowering events of 5446 trees from 196 species across 12 sites and fruiting events of 4595 trees from 191 species across 11 sites were monitored over periods of 6 to 29 years and analyzed to describe phenology at the continental level. To study phenology, we used Fourier analysis to identify the dominant cycles of flowering and fruiting for each individual tree and we identified the time of year African trees bloom and bear fruit and their relationship to local seasonality. Reproductive strategies were diverse, and no single regular cycle was found in >50% of individuals across all 12 sites. Additionally, we found annual flowering and fruiting cycles to be the most common. Sub-annual cycles were the next most common for flowering, whereas supra-annual patterns were the next most common for fruiting. We also identify variation in different subsets of species, with species exhibiting mainly annual cycles most common in West and West Central African tropical forests, while more species at sites in East Central and East African forests showed cycles ranging from sub-annual to supra-annual. Despite many trees showing strong seasonality, at most sites some flowering and fruiting occurred all year round. Environmental factors with annual cycles are likely to be important drivers of seasonal periodicity in trees across Africa, but proximate triggers are unlikely to be constant across the continent.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAdamescu, G. S., Plumptre, A. J., Abernethy, K. A., Polansky, L., Bush, E. R., Chapman, C. A., ... & Beale, C. M. (2018). Annual cycles are the most common reproductive strategy in African tropical tree communities. Biotropica, 50(3), 418-430.https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12561en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/7593
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherBiotropicaen_US
dc.subjectannual cyclesen_US
dc.subjectflowersen_US
dc.subjectfruitsen_US
dc.subjectphenologyen_US
dc.subjectseasonalityen_US
dc.subjecttropical foresten_US
dc.titleAnnual Cycles are the Most Common Reproductive Strategy in African Tropical Tree Communitiesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Annual Cycles are the Most Common Reproductive Strategy in African Tropical Tree Communities.pdf
Size:
2.02 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Annual Cycles are the Most Common Reproductive Strategy in African Tropical Tree Communities
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences