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Phenology has long been hypothesized as an avenue for niche partitioning or interspecific facilitation, both promoting species coexistence. Tropical plant communities exhibit striking diversity in reproductive phenology, but many are also noted for large synchronous reproductive events. Here we study whether the phenology of seed fall in such communities is nonrandom, the temporal scales of phenological patterns, and ecological factors that drive reproductive phenology. We applied multivariate wavelet analysis to test for phenological synchrony versus compensatory dynamics (i.e., antisynchronous patterns where one species' decline is compensated by the rise of another) among species and across temporal scales. We used data from long‐term seed rain monitoring of hyperdiverse plant communities in the western Amazon. We found significant synchronous whole‐community phenology at multiple timescales, consistent with shared environmental responses or positive interactions among species. We also observed both compensatory and synchronous phenology within groups of species (confamilials) likely to share traits and seed dispersal mechanisms. Wind‐dispersed species exhibited significant synchrony at ~6‐month scales, suggesting these species might share phenological niches to match the seasonality of wind. Our results suggest that community phenology is shaped by shared environmental responses but that the diversity of tropical plant phenology may partly result from temporal niche partitioning. The scale‐specificity and time‐localized nature of community phenology patterns highlights the importance of multiple and shifting drivers of phenology.

 

We provide data on flowering and fruiting phenology from an equatorial, ever-wet rainforest in eastern Ecuador, in Yasuni National Park. This is the first long-term study (18 years) of phenology in a diverse equatorial neotropical forest. Although the site is ever-wet, there is some seasonal variation in rainfall and irradiance. One major question was to determine whether the seasonal variation in climate was sufficient to drive seasonality in reproduction in this hyper-diverse forest. The study began in 2000 with various funding, and became an LTREB-funded project in 2006. We used twice monthly censuses of 200 traps to document phenology. Parts of >1000 species were identified in the traps in the 18 year period (ending early in 2018), including trees, shrubs, lianas and epiphytes. Parts identified included buds, flowers, mature fruits and mature seeds, and aborted, damaged and immature fruits and seeds. The project is on-going, and additional data will be added as it is processed. 

Abstract: We resolve three problems concerning the three entire-leaved species of Neotropical Trema. 1) Phylogenetic and morphological results showed that T. integerrima (Beurl.) Standl., T. domingensis Urb., and T. laxiflora Lundell are a single species; therefore, we combine them under a single name. 2) The date of publication gives priority to T. integerrima, as the basionym Sponia integerrima Beurl. was published in 1856. However, the type specimen, Billberg 308 (S), is not a species of Trema but Pouzolzia obliqua (Wedd.) Wedd. (Urticaceae); therefore, Sponia integerrima Beurl. is a new synonym of P. obliqua. The next available name for the entire-leaved species is T. domingensis, published in 1912. 3) The type of T. domingensis, Fuertes 312, is a mixed collection. Specimens of Fuertes 312 held at B, NY, U, and USD are T. domingensis, while those at P, G, US, and Z are Celtis trinervia Lam. We provide a historical review to understand how these problems arose and persisted unnoticed for decades.