Consider the Dirichlet problem
of a semilinear reaction diffusion
equation $u_t = \Delta u + f(t,u)$ on an $N$-dimensional
ball with
time periodic nonlinear term $f$. We
give a complete long-term
description of spatio-temporal asymptotics for
bounded nonnegative
solutions, by a dynamical systems approach.
A substantial part of
this work is to establish the zero number diminishing
property for
radial solutions of parabolic equations. With
the aid of the zero
number technique, we find a nontrivial gradient dynamic
structure
of the radial problem. This structure is linked with the dynamics
of the
original problem by asymptotic spatial symmetrization of
nonnegative
solutions. Combined further with spatial symmetry of
eigenspaces of
linearized operators and with normal hyperbolic behavior near continua
of fixed points, we obtain our main result to
the effect that any
bounded nonnegative solution exhibits asymptotic periodicity
in time
and asymptotic radial symmetry in space as $t \to \infty$.