Phenology of a tropical rain forest in Malaya

During 1960-69, observations were made of flowering, fruiting and foliar activity of 61 canopy trees (representing 45 species) in a largely undisturbed tract of Hill Dipterocarp Forest. Rainfall was measured by an accumulating gauge and, at a nearby station, the number of rainy days recorded. Annually recurrent floral cycles were displayed by only ten species. In these and in 11 additional species, foliar cycles were also circannual. Gregarious flowering, apparently in response to drought, occurred in many species in 1963 and 1968. In other years, interspecific differences in periodicity maintained a minimal incidence of flowering at 44%, and fruiting at 27% of species in the sample. Despite specific variations in phenology, the community as a whole exhibited regular seasonality, with single annual peaks of flowering and fruiting and a double peak of leaf production.