Phenology and water relations of tree sprouts and seedlings in a tropical forest of South India. Trees 19: 322-325.

The phenology of sprouts (>1 year old, up to 1.5 m in height) and seedlings (x), leaf relative water content (RWC; % turgid weight), and xylem specific conductivity (K S; kg s–1 m–1 MPa–1) of sprouts were measured on two occasions during the dry season. In addition, K S of seedlings (x of deciduous species was significantly higher at the second sampling date and was accompanied by a significant increase in K S and RWC, while the brevi-deciduous and evergreen species did not show any difference in x. Seedlings of Terminalia crenulata (deciduous) and Ixora parviflora (evergreen) had significantly lower K S compared to sprouts, while seedlings of all four deciduous species shed their leaves much earlier in the dry season than did conspecific sprouts. More favorable water relations of sprouts compared to seedlings during the peak of the dry season may explain the lower rates of die-back and mortality of sprouts observed in dry deciduous forests of India.