Journal of Environmental Biology

Vegetative and reproductive phenology of a floodplain tree species Barringtonia acutangula from North East India

JShikhasmita Nath, Arun Jyoti Nath* and Ashesh Kumar Das

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar-788 011, India

Corresponding author Email: arunjyotinath@gmail.com

Publication Data

Paper received:

09 September 2014

Revised received:

16 January 2015

Accepted:

22 April 2015

Abstract

Vegetative and reproductive phenology of Barringtonia acutangula, a floodplain tree species was studied at Chatla floodplain, Assam North East India with the aim to investigate vegetative and reproductive phenology under stressful environment of seasonal submergence and to assess the impact of environmental variables (temperature and precipitation) on tree phenophases. Quantitative assessment was made at 15 day interval for all the phenophases (leaf initiation, leaf-fall, flowering and fruiting) by tagging 40 (forty) trees over a period of two years (2012-14).To test seasonal influence on the phenology of Barringtonia acutangula different phenophases were correlated with environmental variables and statistical spearman's rank correlation coefficient was employed. Aridity index was computed that delineate influence of rainfall and temperature together on any phenophases. Leaf initiation showed positively significant correlation with temperature (rs= 0.601, p= <.05) during the year 2012-2013 whereas it was significantly correlated with rainfall (rs= 0.583, p= <.05) and aridity index (rs= 0.583, p= <.05) during the year 2013-2014. Leaf-fall was significant negatively correlated with temperature (rs= -0.623, p= <.05), rainfall (rs= -0.730, p= <.01) and aridity index (rs= -0.730, p= <.01) for both the studied years.? Flowering was significantly influenced by temperature (rs= 0.639, p= <.05), rainfall (rs= 0.890, p= <.01) and aridity index (rs= 0.890, p= <.01) while in one month lag flowering was significantly correlated with rainfall (rs= 0.678, p= <.01) in 2012-13. Fruiting was also positively significant with temperature (rs=0.795, P< .05), rainfall (rs=0.835, P< .01) and aridity index (rs=0.835, P< .01) for both the years. During one month lag period fruiting was positively correlated with temperature, rainfall and aridity index in both the years. Temperature, rainfall and aridity index were major determinants of the various vegetative and reproductive phenology of B. acutangula and any changes in these variables in future due to climate change, might have profound effect on phenophases of this tree species. ???  

 Key words

Adaptive strategy, Climatic factors, Deciduousness, Phenophases

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