Marques & Filho 2008 (Article) Brazil

Ecofisiologia e contribuições para a conservação das bromélias da Serra da Piedade

Author(s):—A.R. Marques & J.P.L. Filho

Publication:—Acta bot. bras. 22(2): 417-424. (2008)

Abstract:—(Reproductive phenology of bromeliad species at Serra da Piedade, Minas Gerais State, Brazil). This work characterizes the phenology of Bromeliaceae species at Serra da Piedade. Of the i8 species studied, 72% flowered in the rainy season and 28% in the dry season. We observed sequential flowering of bromeliads along the entire altitudinal gradient at Serra da Piedade; flowering was also influenced by rainfall seasonality. Most species that occur in the rocky xeric habitat (above 1400 m altitude) flowered during the rainy season, while three of the five species found in the mesic forest (below 1300 m altitude) flowered in the dry season. Sympatric species with similar floral characteristics, such as Tillandsia stricta, T. gardneri, Vriesea citrina and V. crassa, also flowered sequentially. The dispersal of species with winged seeds (Pitcairnoideae) and plumose seeds (Tillandsioideae) occurred in the dry season, except for Dyckia saxatilis and Racinaea aerisincola. Asynchrony was observed in fruit maturation and seed dispersal among zoochorous bromeliads. These conditions probably allow the bromeliad species of Serra da Piedade to avoid use overlap of animal vectors of pollen and seeds.

Keywords:—Bromeliaceae, flowering, fruiting, dispersal