Effect of environmental factors on phenology of wild species of anacardiaceae in Garhwal Himalaya

The aim of present study was to describe the phenology of five trees (Buchnania lanzan Spreng., Pistacia khinjuk Stocks, Semecarpus anacardium L.f., Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr, Spondias pinnata (L.f. Kurz) and two shrub (Rhus parvifora Roxb., Continus coggygria Scop) species of Anacardiaceae family in sub-montane forest of Lansdowne Forest Division in Uttarakhand. The phenological events of these species were recorded in order to determine the relationship between environmental factors (temperature and precipitation) and phonological events. The main branches and sub-branches of individuals of each species were randomly selected and marked with metal tags to represent the whole canopy from January, 2017 to December, 2018. The data was analyzed with the help of circular statistics and Spearman's rank correlation. The result showed that leaf bud initiation start from February and peaks in May. Young leaves start expanded in April and peaks in July, whereas leaf senescence starts in August. Leaf fall starts from September and peaks in November. Flower/flowering bud starts from February to March and turns into flower in April. Ripening of fruits starts from April and peaks in May while fruit fall occurs in May and peaks in June. It is concluded that environmental factors play important role in timing and recurring of phenophase events in all the species. However, seasonality in vegetative and reproductive phase shows that each phenophase event indicates the circular pattern at different time scale.