Indian monsoons shape dispersal phenology of plants

Biol Lett. 2013 Oct 23;9(6):20130675. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0675. Print 2013.

Abstract

The Indian monsoons are a major seasonal climatic event over the Indian subcontinent, heralding the arrival of the wet season. Many features of life, biological and cultural, are intimately synchronized to this seasonality. In this paper, we show that the Indian monsoons might have played an important role in shaping the fruiting time and hence dispersal phenology of plant species in the subcontinent.

Keywords: India; circular statistics; climate change; fruit dispersal; monsoons; phenology.

MeSH terms

  • Climate Change
  • Climate*
  • Ecosystem
  • Fruit
  • India
  • Models, Statistical
  • Plant Physiological Phenomena*
  • Plants
  • Rain*
  • Seasons
  • Trees