Reproductive phenology and its drivers in a tropical rainforest national park in China: Implications for Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) conservation

• Main Authors: Yanjun Du, Danfeng Li, Xiaobo Yang, Danxiao Peng, Xinran Tang, Hui Liu, Donghai Li, Xiaojiang Hong, Xiqiang Song
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-12-01
• Series: Global Ecology and Conservation
• Subjects: Ecological restoration; Flora of Hainan; Flowering phenology; Fruiting phenology; Hainan tropical rainforest national park
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989420308581

Reproductive plant phenology, such as the seasonal timing of flowering or fruiting, influences many aspects of tropical forest communities, but there are few studies examining potential drivers of phenological patterns, especially in south China. We explored phenological patterns in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (HNNP) in China and their major climatic and biotic drivers, based on phenological and distribution data for >2000 species from the Flora of Hainan. Specifically, we address the following questions: (1) What are the phenological patterns for all species in HNNP and for Hainan gibbon food plants only? (2) What are the environmental drivers of reproductive phenology? (3) Whether the flowering and fruiting dates are phylogenetic conserved? (4) Does reproductive phenology vary with functional groups, like growth forms, pollination modes and fruit types? Our results show flowering peaks in late spring and early summer, while fruiting phenology was concentrated during late summer and fall. Closely related species tend to have similar flowering and fruiting dates. The number of flowering species was primary controlled by mean maximum monthly temperature while minimum monthly temperature was the most important variable in shaping fruiting patterns of all species. For fruiting of gibbon food plants, mean monthly precipitation was the most important variable. Our study found January to May was food shortage period, which has important implications for Hainan gibbon conservation. We should take targeted ecological restoration by planting gibbon food species with phenologies between January and May, and take targeted provisioning to attract gibbons into a new habitat by providing fruits between January and May.