Data from: Fruiting phenology is linked to rainfall variability in a tropical rain forest

As the influence of climate change on tropical forests becomes apparent,
more studies are needed to understand how changes in climatic variables
like rainfall are likely to affect tree phenology. Using a twelve-year
dataset (2005–2016), we studied the impact of seasonal rainfall patterns
on the fruiting phenology of 69 tree species in the rain forest of
southeastern Madagascar. We found that average annual rainfall in this
region has increased by >800mm (23%) during this period relative to
that recorded for the previous 40 years, and was highly variable both
within and between years. Higher monthly measures of fruiting richness and
the intensity of fruiting in our sample community were significantly
associated with higher levels of rainfall. We also found that less
rainfall during the dry season, but not the wet season, was associated
with a significant shift toward later timing of peak richness and peak
intensity of fruiting in the subsequent 12 months; however, this pattern
was driven primarily by an extreme drought event that occurred during the
study period. Longer time scales of phenology data should be examined in
the future to see if this pattern holds. Madagascar is expected to
experience more extremes in rainfall and drought with increasing climate
change. Thus, understanding the impacts of variable precipitation on the
timing of reproduction of forest trees will have important consequences
for plant reproduction and the ability of Madagascar’s wildlife to cope
with a changing climate.