Data from: Seasonality in the equatorial tropics: Flower, fruit and leaf phenology of montane trees in the highlands of southwest Uganda

Phenology influences many forest functions and can inform forest
conservation and management, yet representative phenological data for most
common tropical forest tree species remain sparse or absent. Between June
2011 and December 2013, we investigated flowering, fruiting and leafing
patterns in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a montane forest
located near the equator in Uganda, drawing on 16,410 observations of 530
trees of 54 species located between 2,066 and 2,527 m in elevation. The
park’s climate is equatorial with two wet and dry seasons each year.
Flowering and fruiting were strongly seasonal while patterns in leafing
were less pronounced. Flower occurrence peaked at the beginning of the
short dry season followed by a pronounced trough during the beginning and
the middle of the short wet season. Fruit occurrence had a pronounced peak
during high rainfall months in March through April with most fruits
ripening during drier months in May through July. Fruit scarcity was
observed for a 4-month period spanning September to December and most
flushing of leaves noted at the end of the wet season in November and
December. Our binomial generalised linear mixed models (GLMM) indicated
that flowering and fruiting were negatively associated with temperature
and that leafing activity was positively associated with rainfall and
temperature. These findings are consistent with the insolation- and
water-limitation hypotheses suggesting that the seasonally varying
availability of resources such as light, water and nutrients determines
these phenological patterns. Ideally, prolonged, multi-year
community-level studies would be supported so as to better characterise
the influence of climate and of climate variability.