Kolhapur: The below average rainfall last monsoon and soaring temperatures since Octobers have possibly triggered unusually early flowering and fruiting of at least six trees in the Western Ghats.
Samrat Kerkar, resident of Radhanagari and nature lover, sensed the unusually early flowering of some of the commonly seen plants in the Radhanagari wildlife sanctuary located in the thick forests of Western Ghats, earlier this year.
"This is something unusual. I don't know what is happening exactly, but silk cotton trees in Dajipur forests have almost completed the flowering by now. Usually, the flowering starts in April. Something has triggered the changed," he said.
Top experts on Western Ghats have also noted that the early flowering and fruiting of at least six plants, commonly sighted in these parts. They said many plants and trees have flowered one to two months earlier than the usual period.
There is no detailed or long-term study available about the phenomenon at this moment. However, experts said the common plants of Java Plum have witnessed fruiting as early as in February. In normal conditions, the fruits to this tree starts to come in April end or early May.
"The flowering and fruiting of plants is a result of photoperiodism in botanical terms. It means plants respond to the lengths of day and night of a particular season. Early flowering could indicate climatic changes occurring in Western Ghats. A plant such as Large Caper (common Marathi name: Waghati) flowered in November against the routine flowering in March," said Madhukar Bachulkar, botanist and expert on plants in Western Ghats.
He said early flowering must be the result of dry spells during last monsoon and the above normal temperatures since October last year. Flowering and fruiting is a natural chemical process dependent on weather. This year, we have observed early flowering in at least six major plants such as Butea monosperma (Palas), Silk Cotton (Kate Savar), Indian Coral (Pangara), Large Caper (Waghati) and Ironwood (Anjani) and Java Plum, he added.
S R Yadav, head of the botany department of Shivaji University, confirmed the phenomenon and added that it could indicate a shift in plant's life cycle.
"We have to observe the phenomenon for more years to prove the shift. However, the scanty rainfall last year across the Western Ghats is definitely showing its impact on the forests. I have observed one to two months early flowering to the plants for the first time this year," he said.
Yadav said early flowering and fruiting could be the plant's response to the climatic change. "There is survival instinct in each plant. When they sense the rising temperature and dry spells of rains, they can start flowering much earlier than the normal conditions," he said.
City-based taxonomist C R Patil said that the increase in the temperature synthesises flowering hormones in the plant and later fruiting. "Whenever the temperature is high, we observe heavy flowering in Western Ghats. Since October last year, the temperature has remained above normal. In early February, we experienced the normal temperature of March-end. This has brought early flowering," Patil said.
The dry spells and rising temperatures have caused drying of the forest lands as well. Eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil believes the dry land is among the factors responsible for early flowering.
"We have to study the data to the length before confirming the climatic change. There is only one evidence of climatic change observed in India over plants and that is in Himalayas where due to increased temperatures, some of the plants height has increased," Gadgil said, adding that more study on Western Ghats is needed to record the details of early flowering.