Reproductive phenological patterns of a Restinga community in Northeastern Brazil

The state of Ceará is classified into 11 phytoecological units, one of which is the Coastal Zone Vegetation Complex, which comprises the vegetation of the São Gonçalo do Amarante Botanical Garden. Considering the scarcity of phenological studies in the region and the environmental threats faced, it is essential to understand the behavior of the local flora. Given the above, the objective was to characterize the reproductive phenological patterns of the São Gonçalo do Amarante Botanical Garden. To analyze the reproductive phenological patterns, circular histograms were prepared in the ORIANA 4 software with the data obtained from herbaria, and the Spearman correlation test (rs) was performed to verify the correlation between the meteorological variables and the phenophases. A total of 245 herbarium specimens of 150 species collected between 2015 and 2019 were recorded and made available in the herbarium of the Ceará Natural History Museum Prof. Dias da Rocha and on the SpeciesLink platform. The Rayleigh test indicated seasonality for flowering (r = 0.946) and fruiting (r = 0.985) with the average dates occurring, respectively, in March and February, that is, in these months there is a greater probability of finding phenophases. Due to the observed seasonality, there was no record of reproductive phenological events in some months of the year. Neither reproductive phenophase showed any correlation with the meteorological variables of precipitation and temperature. A monthly calendar was prepared with data from the herbaria with the respective species, their popular names, flowering and fruiting periods, allowing to assist in future research with collection of reproductive material.