%0 Journal Article
%T Phenology of Some Phanerogams (Trees and Shrubs) of Northwestern Punjab, India
%A Gurveen Kaur
%A Bhupinder Pal Singh
%A Avinash Kaur Nagpal
%J Journal of Botany
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/712405
%X Plants perform various vegetative and reproductive functions throughout the year in order to persist in their habitats. The study of these events including their timing and how the environment influences the timing of these events is known as phenology. This study of the timing of seasonal biological activities of plants is very important to know about plantĄ¯s survival and its reproductive success. The variation in the phenological activities is due to change in different abiotic conditions. This paper deals with the study of phenological activities like bud formation, flowering time, fruiting time, and seed formation for some leguminous plants of Amritsar, Punjab (a state in the northwest of India) for three consecutive years from 2009 till 2011. 1. Introduction The timing of various phenological activities such as germination, bud break, flowering, fruit dehiscence, and leaf drop is important for survival and reproductive success of many plant species. Abiotic environmental conditions such as rain, change in temperature, presence/absence of pollinators, competitors, and herbivores have been shown to play a significant role in timing of various phenological events [1¨C6]. Natural selection has also been considered to play some role in determining the phenological patterns of plant species [7]. Phenological studies are also important in understanding species interrelations and their interaction with the environment. Variations in phenophases among individuals of the same species or different species have been linked to environmental perturbations [8]. Considerable amount of phenological data is available on different plant species from different parts of the world including tropical savanna and semideciduous forest of Venezuelan Ilanos (South America) [9], dry tropical forest in Ghana [10], NE Spain [11¨C13], Panama [14], Mexico [15], tropical rain forest in Malaya [16], semiarid grassland in the Rock mountain, USA [17], and tibetan plateau [18]. A number of studies on phenology of different plant species from different parts of India have also been undertaken which include those from a subtropical humid forest in North-Eastern India [19, 20], Kumaun Himalayan forests [21, 22], deciduous forest of Bandipur in peninsular India [23], Shervaroys, Southern India [24], tropical moist forest of Western Ghats in Karnataka [25], Hathinala Forest in Uttar Pradesh [26], alpine expanse of North-West Himalaya [27], Orissa coast [28], tropical montane forests in the Nilgiris [8], Kolhapur region (Maharashtra) [29], and Katerniaghat wildlife sanctuary situated in the
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jb/2013/712405/