Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.
Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria "Rodrigo Facio", San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San José, Costa Rica.
Am J Bot. 2018 Dec;105(12):2037-2050. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.1205. Epub 2018 Dec 13.
Flowering initiation, duration and magnitude, and degree of flowering synchrony within a population can affect the reproductive fitness of individuals. We examined the flowering phenology within a population of the tropical dry forest Guanacaste tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) to gauge the impact of phenological variation among trees on fruit production and progeny vigor.
We monitored the flowering phenology of 93 trees weekly during 2005, 2006, and 2007, using a scale based on the percentage of the crown with open flowers. We also monitored fruit production for each tree in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Finally, we evaluated the relationship between phenological variation and progeny performance.
Ten measures of flowering phenology and synchrony among flowering trees, based on the number of weeks when anthesis of the crown exceeded 50%, were used to develop four phenological profiles. These profiles were correlated with significant differences in fruit production and progeny vigor. Trees with flowers in >50% of their crown for at least 2 weeks produced more fruits and more vigorous progeny than trees with other profiles. Trees also tended to produce the same phenological profile among years than predicted by chance.
Guanacaste trees vary significantly in the initiation of anthesis, duration and magnitude of flowering, and degree of synchrony among trees. Trees also tend to maintain the same flowering profile among years. Finally, the flowering behavior of E. cyclocarpum leads to significant differences in fruit and seed production, germination, and early progeny growth.
花的起始、持续时间和强度，以及种群内开花的同步程度会影响个体的生殖适应性。我们检查了热带干旱森林瓜纳卡斯特树（Enterolobium cyclocarpum）种群内的开花物候，以评估树木间物候变化对果实产量和后代活力的影响。
我们在 2005 年、2006 年和 2007 年期间每周使用基于树冠开放花朵比例的量表监测 93 棵树的开花物候，并用该量表监测每棵树在 2005 年、2006 年、2007 年和 2008 年的果实产量。最后，我们评估了物候变化与后代表现之间的关系。
基于树冠开花超过 50%的周数，我们用 10 个开花物候和开花树木间同步性的指标，制定了四个物候图谱。这些图谱与果实产量和后代活力的显著差异相关。树冠至少有 2 周有超过 50%的花朵的树木比其他图谱的树木产生更多的果实和活力更强的后代。树木之间也倾向于在多年间产生与预期相符的相同物候图谱。
瓜纳卡斯特树在开花起始、花期长短和强度以及树木间的同步程度上有显著差异。树木也倾向于在多年间保持相同的开花图谱。最后，E. cyclocarpum 的开花行为导致果实和种子产量、萌发和早期后代生长存在显著差异。
