Environmental characteristics are among the most important triggers and regulators of plant phenophases, so that the abiotic and biotic changes driven by habitat loss and fragmentation can result in alterations of plant phenological patterns. We investigated whether forest edge and interior have differences in phenological pattern of tree communities. We followed the reproductive phenologies of tree communities in seven forest fragments on a monthly basis for two years (in 200 m² edge and interior plots per fragment). We sampled a total of 0.28 ha of anthropic forest fragments, comprising 313 trees (180 in edge, 133 in interior) belonging to 103 species and 34 families. Our results evidenced reproductive phenological changes between edge and interior tree communities, with: (i) phenological activities differing temporally between the two habitats (edge and forest interior) in all tree communities; (ii) greater phenological intensity at the forest edge than in the forest interior among tree species common to both habitats; (iii) more tree species showed phenological activity at the forest edge in 2010 and interior in 2011, when considering only those exclusive to each habitat. Habitat fragmentation can therefore alter microenvironmental characteristics and influence biologic processes, including the reproductive phenologies of trees, through edge formation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.