TY - JOUR
T1 - VASCULAR EPIPHYTES
T2 - THE UGLY DUCKLING OF PHENOLOGICAL STUDIES
AU - Ramírez-Martínez, Adriana
AU - Mondragón, Demetria
AU - Rivera-García, Raúl
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/5/1
Y1 - 2021/5/1
N2 - The phenology of vascular epiphytes, which account for about 10 % of the world’s flowering plants and perform important ecological functions, has been just partially explored. Since phenology is a key tool for the management and conservation of species, the objective of this review was to synthesize the information published so far about the phenology of vascular epiphytes, detect gaps of knowledge, and suggest future lines of investigation to understand the underlying mechanisms. We conducted an online search for articles in Google Scholar and in the ISI Web of Science database from 1800 to 2020, with different combinations of keywords. 107 studies addressing the phenology of different holoepiphyte species were found; 88 % of the studies were performed in the Neotropic, especially in tropical and subtropical wet forests. The phenology of only ca. 2 % (418 spp.) of all reported holoepiphyte species has been explored. There is a bias toward the study of the flowering and fruiting phenology in members of the Orchidaceae (192 spp.) and Bromeliaceae (124 spp.) families. In general, the vegetative and reproductive phenology of epiphytes tends to be seasonal; however, there is a huge gap in our understanding of the proximate and ultimate factors involved. Future research should explicitly focus on studying those factors.
AB - The phenology of vascular epiphytes, which account for about 10 % of the world’s flowering plants and perform important ecological functions, has been just partially explored. Since phenology is a key tool for the management and conservation of species, the objective of this review was to synthesize the information published so far about the phenology of vascular epiphytes, detect gaps of knowledge, and suggest future lines of investigation to understand the underlying mechanisms. We conducted an online search for articles in Google Scholar and in the ISI Web of Science database from 1800 to 2020, with different combinations of keywords. 107 studies addressing the phenology of different holoepiphyte species were found; 88 % of the studies were performed in the Neotropic, especially in tropical and subtropical wet forests. The phenology of only ca. 2 % (418 spp.) of all reported holoepiphyte species has been explored. There is a bias toward the study of the flowering and fruiting phenology in members of the Orchidaceae (192 spp.) and Bromeliaceae (124 spp.) families. In general, the vegetative and reproductive phenology of epiphytes tends to be seasonal; however, there is a huge gap in our understanding of the proximate and ultimate factors involved. Future research should explicitly focus on studying those factors.
KW - Dispersion
KW - Environmental factors
KW - Pollination
KW - Reproductive biology
KW - Seasonal development
KW - Vegetative biology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110261908&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15446/abc.v26n2.83473
DO - 10.15446/abc.v26n2.83473
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85110261908
SN - 0120-548X
VL - 26
SP - 247
EP - 261
JO - Acta Biologica Colombiana
JF - Acta Biologica Colombiana
IS - 2
ER -