PHENOLOGY OF NATIVE TREE SPECIES IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL/BRAZIL/FENOLOGIA DE ESPECIES NATIVAS ARBOREAS NA REGIAO CENTRAL DO ESTADO DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

The general aim of this study was to monitor the vegetative and reproductive phenology of 20 native tree species existing in the Botanical Garden of the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria-RS, Brazil. This general aim was reached by associating the duration of the different phenophases of this plant community with the air temperature, rainfall and day length. The investigation was conducted from August 2010 to August 2011. A total of 185 trees were randomly selected and marked, with 4-10 individuals of each species. Among this total selected trees, vegetative phenophases (mature leaves, leaf fall and bud) and reproductive ones (flowering--bud and anthesis; fruit--unripe fruit and ripe fruit) were observed, fortnightly. Two methods of observation were used: the rate of phenological activity (absence / presence of the event) and the Fournier Index. The values of these indices were subjected to Spearman correlation with meteorological data. In vegetative phenology it was found that the community budding was constant throughout the study period. The sharpest leaf fall occurred in autumn and winter and the mature leaves with full photosynthetic capacity had increased peaks in spring and summer and decreased almost 50% in winter. In reproductive phenology, the highest peak of flowering occurred in spring and during the early summer and the fruiting occurred mostly during the summer and the early fall. The phenophases were significantly correlated with day length and air temperature, not with rainfall.