Flowering and fruiting phenology and floral visitation of four native tree species in the remnant moist Afromontane forest of Wondo Genet, south central Ethiopia

The flowering and fruiting timing of four native tree species-Allophylus abyssinicus, Polyscias fulva, Syzygium guineense subsp. guineense and Millettia ferruginea and their floral visitation by insects were investigated to understand their phenological pattern and the species richness and pattern of visitation. In the natural forest of Wondo Genet, Ethiopia, 25 mature individuals of four indigenous species were selected and monitored over two years. Flower visiting insects were trapped with sweep nets at an interval of every two hours between 8:00-18:00 for 20 days. Circular statistics were employed to test for seasonality in flowering and fruiting. The visitor community compositions of the four species were compared with permutational ANOVA. While the tree species expressed synchronous seasonal flowering that peaked during the dry period, fruiting was also seasonal. The mean monthly rainfall and temperature correlated significantly with the periods of the phenophases. Visitor communities of M. ferruginea differed significantly from visitor communities on A. abyssinicus, P. fulva and S. guineense.