FRUITING PHENOLOGY OF A SCRUB FOREST IN THIRUPORUR, EASTERN GHATS, INDIA

. This paper describes the fruiting phenology of 110 individuals of woody species belonging to 22 taxa (21 species, 1 variety) belonging to 15 families including 2 species of figs in a scrub forest, Thiruporur, Eastern Ghats. Fruiting peak was observed during July 2009 with 11 species in fruiting, a dip was observed during March 2009 where only 2 species were in fruiting. Season wise fruiting peak was observed during South-west and North-east Monsoon while the dip was during summer.

for phenology (Table 1). The phenology of fruit production was observed fornight to assess the periodicity of fruiting. During the visit, percentage of fruit in the canopy was visually estimated and then the estimate was divided into percentage of ripe and unripe fruit, based primarily on colour changes indicating ripeness (Anggraini et al., 2000). The families studied were Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae, Arecaceae, Cordiaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Loganiaceae, Meliaceae, Memecylaceae, Moraceae, Myrtaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae and Tiliaceae.
Phenological observations were carried out for a continuous period of one year in the scrub forest.

RESULTS
A    The phenology is discussed with regard to four seasons namely, Summer (March-May), South-west Monsoon (June-August), North-east Monsoon (September-November) and Post Monsoon (December-February). A peak was observed in South-west and North-east Monsoon and a dip in summer (Table 1). Fruiting schedule of fleshy fruited woody plants of the study area are shown in Table 2. North-east monsoon 3 9 12 International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 44 27 Ziziphus oenoplia √

DISCUSSION
Fruiting peak was recorded during both South-west and North-east monsoon with 12 species each fruiting. [7] in a South African Coastal forest reported the fruiting peak (August-October) (March-May). Periods of fruit scarcity were found during the dry season in July and August and during the rainy season in November and December. In the tropics and subtropics, the production of fleshy fruits tends to be highest early in the wet season [8,9].
Fruiting peak during wet season was reported from several tropical forests [10,11]. [12] reported fruiting peak during September in subtropical forest at Manipur which coincides with the present study. [13] in Coromandel Coast of India in their phenological studies observed that fruiting during dry season was less when compared to wet season. [14] observed peak of fleshy fruits during post monsoon season, in the tropical dry evergreen forest. [15] observed a peak in fruiting during the South-west monsoon (21 species) and a dip during Post monsoon (9 species) in a tropical mixed dry deciduous forest, Western Ghats.

ILNS Volume 44
In the present study, Ficus benghalensis fruited during March-November; Ficus religiosa fruited during June -August. A study in the moist deciduous forest in Simlipal Biosphere Reserve [16] indicates that Ficus benghalensis bore fruits during April -June and December -February; Ficus religiosa fruited during June to October. In another study at a dry deciduous forest, Satlasana range forest, Gujarat [17] states that Ficus benghalensis was in fruiting during April, May and June, Ficus religiosa during April, October.
In contrast, Ficus racemosa and Ficus religiosa were found to be available year around in a deciduous forest and evergreen forest, Western Ghats [18]. According to a study [19] Ficus benghalensis bore fruits during September-November, Ficus religiosa during April -May at Goalpara, Assam. In some seasonal tropical forests, the number of animal-dispersed species peaks during the rainy season [20,21]. In aseasonal tropical forests, such as those in Malaysia, fruiting occurs throughout the year; usually without defined peaks in fruit or frugivores abundance [22,23].
In the present study, it was observed that summer had a dip with 6 species in fruits, but Ficus benghalensis was fruiting during this period of fruit scarcity and supported a large number of avian frugivores which clearly shows that Ficus is a keystone species in this study area. [24] reported peak fruiting in figs coincided with peak in non-fig fruiting in a wet evergreen forest site in Western Ghats which coincides with the present study in Eastern Ghats. Carmona retusa, Glycosmis cymosa and Ziziphus oenoplia were seasonal as the fruiting occurred only during one season i.e, South-west Monsoon, North-east Monsoon, Post-Monsoon respectively. Some species fruited during two or three seasons Ficus benghalensis bore fruits in three seasons.