FENOLOGIA REPRODUTIVA DE RUBIACEAE JUSS. NA MATA ATLÂNTICA PARAIBANA

Estudos fenologicos auxiliam na compreensao dos padroes reprodutivos e vegetativos das plantas, de modo a contribuir para o conhecimento da dinâmica no ambiente. Nos estudamos os padroes fenologicos reprodutivos de cinco especies de Rubiaceae em uma area de Mata Atlântica, avaliamos suas sindromes de dispersao e efeitos de variaveis climaticas sobre as fenofases de floracao e frutificacao. Monitoramos quinzenalmente individuos reprodutivos de cinco especies durante fevereiro de 2015 e fevereiro de 2016 (um ano). Para cada fenofase nos calculamos a intensidade de Fournier e sincronia intrapopulacional. Testes de Spearman foram utilizados para correlacionar as fenofases reprodutivas e as variaveis climaticas, precipitacao, temperatura e fotoperiodo. A identificacao das sindromes de dispersao foi baseada em analises morfologicas seguindo a classificacao de van der Pijl. A comunidade de Rubiaceae apresentou padrao continuo para a floracao e frutificacao. No entanto, ao analisar padroes fenologicos por especie, nota-se maior concentracao das fenofases e sincronia para as populacoes na estacao chuvosa. Producao de flores e frutos apresentaram correlacoes positivas com a temperatura e precipitacao media historica. Zoocoria foi a sindrome de dispersao predominante entre as especies avaliadas, indicando a importância da familia Rubiaceae como recurso alimentar ao longo do ano para a comunidade de frugivoros. Acreditamos que o alto grau de sincronismo entre as fenofases pode estar relacionado a fatores como temperatura e precipitacao que regulam de forma similar a ocorrencia das fenofases. REPRODUCTIVE PHENOLOGY OF RUBIACEAE (JUSS.) SPECIES IN THE ATLANTIC FOREST, PARAIBA STATE: Phenological studies help determine the reproductive and vegetative patterns of plants, contributing to knowledge about dynamics in an environment. We studied the reproductive phenological patterns of five Rubiaceae species in an Atlantic Forest area, evaluating their seed dispersal syndromes and the effects of climatic variables on flowering and fruiting phenology. We monitored reproductive individuals of five species biweekly from February 2015 to February 2016 (one-year period). For each reproductive phenophase, we evaluated the Fournier index and intrapopulational synchronicity. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine possible correlations between phenological phenophases and rainfall, temperature and photoperiod. Seed dispersal syndromes were based on morphological analysis and Van der Pijl classification. The Rubiaceae community showed a continuous pattern of flowering and fruiting. However, when analysing phenological patterns by species, there was a higher concentration of phenophases and synchronicity of populations in the rainy season. Flowering and fruiting were positively correlated with temperature and historical average rainfall. Zoochory was the predominant seed dispersal syndrome, indicating the importance of the Rubiaceae family as a year-round resource for frugivorous communities. Temperature and rainfall regulate the reproductive phenophases similarly, resulting in a high level of synchrony between them.