Plant diversity and phenological pattern in the montane wet temperate forests of the southern Western Ghats,India

Plants diversity and phenological pattern of the trees were monitored in a montane wet temperate forest(shola) in the Kukkal Forest,Palni hills of the southern Western Ghats,India.Twelve random plots were selected for sampling the vegetation.For phenological studies,twenty-three fleshy fruit trees were identified in the study area and 10 individuals of each species were selected to record the phenological events fortnightly between April 2002 and April 2004.The phenological events were divided into vegetative and reproductive phases.A total of 2279 individuals were inventoried which belong to 83 species,68 genera and 40 families.About 30% of the species were endemic to the Western Ghats.The most dominant species(≥ 1 cm dbh) was Psychotria nilgiriensis var.astephana(Rubiaceae),which accounted for 12% of the total sampled individuals.Lauraceae was the dominant family accounting for 20% of the individuals.Fruiting peak occurred in July 2003 and least in June 2002.During the peak period,fruits of 85 individuals of six species were observed.Syzygium tamilnadensis,Ilex wightiana and Beilschmiedia wightii fruited only once during the two years of study.The number of fruiting species showed no correlation with rainfall(r = 0.26,p = 0.2),while a correlation was found with fruit abundance(r = 0.40,p < 0.05).The results indicate that the montane wet temperate forest is unique in their diversity and a conspicuous display in phenology.