Fenologia de Espécies Arbóreas de Vegetação Ciliar em Região de Transição Cerrado - Caatinga

Abstract

(Tree species phenology of riparian vegetation in a transition Cerrado-Caatinga area). Studies on forest transition are important and required to provide information of adapted species at relatively instable environments. The vegetative and reproductive phenology of tree species in riparian vegetation of the Pandeiros river were studied from August of 2008 to July of 2009, in a transition area between Cerrado and Caatinga biomes, in northern of Minas Gerais, Brazil. 943 individuals, distributed in 50 populations, belonging to 30 species of 17 botanical families were observed. It was also observed the period of phenological phases occurrence: leaf flush, leaf fall, total abscission, flower buds, open flowers, unripe and ripe fruits, and we used the Spearman correlations among these phenological phases and the climatic variables of precipitation, temperature and relative air humidity. Leaf flush was registered mainly in the transition period between dry and wet seasons and leaf fall was more intense during the dry season. Some species showed a decidual behavior, with a total absence of vegetative and reproductive structures mainly, in the transition period of dry and wet season. Flowering was concentrated in this period of transition, while the fruiting was less seasonal, with many species fruiting at the end of wet and dry seasons. The vegetative and reproductive phenological phases correlated with to the temperature. The phenological behavior of the studied species was similar to the phenological patterns of the adjacents riparian vegetation physiognomies of the Pandeiros river