@article{1780bebc03c94bd592d088805c73da2c,
title = "Long-term trends in fruit production in a tropical forest at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda",
abstract = "Fruit production in tropical forests varies considerably in space and time, with important implications for frugivorous consumers. Characterizing temporal variation in forest productivity is thus critical for understanding adaptations of tropical forest frugivores, yet long-term phenology data from the tropics, in particular from African forests, are still scarce. Similarly, as the abiotic factors driving phenology in the tropics are predicted to change with a warming climate, studies documenting the relationship between climatic variables and fruit production are increasingly important. Here, we present data from 19 years of monitoring the phenology of 20 tree species at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Our aims were to characterize short- and long-term trends in productivity and to understand the abiotic factors driving temporal variability in fruit production. Short-term (month-to-month) variability in fruiting was relatively low at Ngogo, and overall fruit production increased significantly through the first half of the study. Among the abiotic variables, we expected to influence phenology patterns (including rainfall, solar irradiance, and average temperature), only average temperature was a significant predictor of monthly fruit production. We discuss these findings as they relate to the resource base of the frugivorous vertebrate community inhabiting Ngogo.",
keywords = "abiotic factors, frugivores, fruit production, temporal variation",
author = "Potts, {Kevin B.} and Watts, {David P.} and Langergraber, {Kevin E.} and Mitani, {John C.}",
note = "Funding Information: We wish to thank Godfrey Mbabazi and Lawrence Ndangizi for collecting the phenology data presented here, as well as Samuel Angedakin and the late Jeremiah Lwanga for their management of the Ngogo research site. We thank the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for permission to conduct research in Kibale National Park, and the Makerere University Biological Field Station for permission to work at Ngogo. Research at Ngogo has been supported by NSF Awards SBR‐9253590, BCS‐0215622, and IOB‐0516644 and by the Detroit Zoological Society, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the NIH (RO1AG049395), Primate Conservation Inc., the Wenner‐Gren Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists, Arizona State University, Boston University, the University of Michigan, Yale University, Augsburg College, Saint Olaf College, and the Max Planck Society. Funding Information: We wish to thank Godfrey Mbabazi and Lawrence Ndangizi for collecting the phenology data presented here, as well as Samuel Angedakin and the late Jeremiah Lwanga for their management of the Ngogo research site. We thank the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for permission to conduct research in Kibale National Park, and the Makerere University Biological Field Station for permission to work at Ngogo. Research at Ngogo has been supported by NSF Awards SBR-9253590, BCS-0215622, and IOB-0516644 and by the Detroit Zoological Society, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the NIH (RO1AG049395), Primate Conservation Inc., the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the American Society of Primatologists, Arizona State University, Boston University, the University of Michigan, Yale University, Augsburg College, Saint Olaf College, and the Max Planck Society. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/btp.12764",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "52",
pages = "521--532",
journal = "Biotropica",
issn = "0006-3606",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "3",
}