Vegetative and reproductive phenology of dominant Mangrove species: a multi-parametric approach from Indian sundarbans Journal Article
| Authors: | Chakrabarty, S.; Chatterjee, T.; Gaine, T.; Chaudhuri, P. |
| Article Title: | Vegetative and reproductive phenology of dominant Mangrove species: a multi-parametric approach from Indian sundarbans |
| Abstract: | Phenology is the study of the timing of different life cycle events of plants like leafing, senescence, flowering and fruiting, in response to environmental conditions. It is often evolutionarily adapted to maximise utilisation of abiotic conditions and biotic interactions by directly influencing plant fitness, community dynamics, and ecosystem resilience. Mangroves, thriving at the dynamic interface of land and sea, represent a challenging habitat, that faces escalating threats from climate change and anthropogenic pressures. Yet, comprehensive studies on mangrove phenology-essential for deciphering their adaptive strategies-remain under-represented. This study provides the first detailed assessment of spatiotemporal variation in the phenology of twelve dominant mangrove species across two sites in the Indian Sundarbans. Beyond documenting the timing of four key phenophases (leaf flushing, senescence, flowering, and fruiting), we analysed other parameters-duration, intensity, synchrony, frequency, skewness, and kurtosis-to unravel how these traits collectively shape activities and species-specific strategies. Our findings revealed significant variation in timing of peak activity for different plant species across all four phenophases. Altogether, flushing peaked early in dry season, flowering peaked mid dry season, and fruiting peaked during wet season. Duration of activity also varied among phenophases with long flushing and fruiting. This long activity periods, in turn, constrained the available time for activity of other phases, leading to synchronisation of early season flushing and flowering, enhancing fitness. Although there was an overall difference in the timing of flushing, flowering, and fruiting across species, no differences between sites for each species were observed. In a multivariate space, kurtosis, duration, synchrony and skewness explained most of the variation in phenology between species. The variation in phenology parameters affecting different phenophases indicated adaptation to a varying set of environmental cues and constraints. This study provides important insight into relationship between timing, and other phenology parameters which might help unravel life-history, and resource acquisition and utilisation strategies of plant species in this vulnerable mangrove communities. |
| Keywords: | time; flushing; senescence; patterns; intensity; duration; trees; mangrove; flowering; synchrony; indian sundarbans; phenology; fruiting; tropical forests |
| Journal Title: | Plant Ecology |
| ISSN: | 1385-0237 |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Publication status: | Online ahead of print |
| Date Published: | 2025-08-06 |
| Online Publication Date: | 2025-08-06 |
| Language: | English |
| ACCESSION: | WOS:001545066600001 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11258-025-01554-6 |
| PROVIDER: | wos |
| Notes: | Article; Early Access -- Source: Wos |
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