Notas sobre la ecología reproductiva de árboles en un bosque mesófilo de montaña en Michoacán, México

Reproductive events of the main tree species of a mountain mesophytic forest are described, and complemented with data on the reproductive behavior of some shrubs and herbs. The general pattern of flowering among tree species was strongly seasonal, with a clear peak in flowering during the dry-wet and wet-dry interfases. Shrubs and herbs, by contrast, flowered primarily during the rainy season. Controlled pollination experiments showed that all tree species, with the exception of Cornus disciflora, have relatively high levels of self-compatibility. This is considered a mechanism for ensuring the reproductive success of these species in the absence of adequate pollinators. Melittophily is the dominant pollination syndrome, although others were observed (e.g., anemophily, ornithophily, and sphingophily). Finally, the general reproductive features of the forest are discussed and compared with the reproductive behavior of temperate and tropical forests.