A Phenological Study on Zygophyllum atriplicoides in Mouteh, Isfahan Province

Phenology refers to the study of natural cyclic events in the life of plants and animals. Phenophasis variations are the most sensitive responses to the climate changes. Knowledge of phenology is also important for rehabilitation and nursery management. In this study, phenology of Zygophyllum atriplicoides was observed in Mouteh area, Isfahan province. At first, 20 shrubs were randomly selected and then vital phenological events, such as bud developing, leaf emerging, flowering, fruiting, leaf shedding, seed formation, seed scattering and plant latent state were recorded monthly during a year. Then, pictorial time series of the plant was developed. The percentage of the three color channels (red - green - blue) (RGB) were extracted in every picture and for every part of the plant, such as leaves, stems and fruits. Next, they were separately analyzed. The phenological records revealed that the plant buds start to grow from late March until September. Moreover, flowering occurs in April, and peak fruiting follows in May. Seeds appear in June and scatter in July. There is a clear correlation between notable phenophasis of the plant and climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature