Plant phenology in a cloud forest on the island of Maui, Hawaii

We recorded the times of flowering, fruiting, and leafing for ten native canopy and subcanopy trees and shrubs (monthly from December 1994 through December 1997) in a montane cloud forest with relatively aseasonal rainfall on the island of Maui, Hawaii. These species represented the great majority o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biotropica 2000-03, Vol.32 (1), p.90-99
Main Authors: Berlin, K.E, Pratt, T.K, Simon, J.C, Kowalsky, J.R, Hatfield, J.S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annuals
cloud forest
Cloud forests
Flowering
flowering seasonality
Flowers
forest ecology
Fruiting
Hawaii
Hawaiian Honeycreeper
Maui
Metrosideros polymorpha
Ohia
Phenology
Plants
seasonal variation
Shrubs
Trees
Tropical forests
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We recorded the times of flowering, fruiting, and leafing for ten native canopy and subcanopy trees and shrubs (monthly from December 1994 through December 1997) in a montane cloud forest with relatively aseasonal rainfall on the island of Maui, Hawaii. These species represented the great majority of individual woody plants at the site. Flowers and fruits were available in the community year-round; however, all species exhibited annual patterns of flowering, and four species showed annual patterns of fruiting while the rest fruited in supra-annual patterns. Many species had protracted flowering or fruiting peaks, and some bore small numbers of flowers or fruit year-round. Most species flowered in a monthly peak mainly between May and August, corresponding to the period of greatest solar irradiance and marginally higher temperatures. Fruit ripening followed at varying intervals. In contrast, the heaviest flowering occurred between November and March, resulting from bloom of the dominant tree, Metrosideros polymorpha. At the highest elevations, Metrosideros flowering was heaviest during September, but peak flowering of lower elevation trees occurred in late fall and winter. Two forms of this species differed in their temporal and spatial patterns of flowering. For M. polymorpha var. polymorpha and var. incana, bloom peaked annually between November and January; however, for M. polymorpha var. glaberrima, flowering peaked from April through July, with an earlier secondary peak in January.
ISSN:0006-3606
1744-7429
DOI:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2000.tb00451.x