Patterns of flowering phenology, i.e. first and last flowering day (FFD and LFD) and flowering duration (FD) govern plant pollination and reproduction. Most research has focused on FFD whereas LFD, FD and second flowering events were neglected although they are crucial events. To assess whether flowering patterns change species-specifically with changing abiotic conditions and whether these are related to leaf persistence, reproduction and pollination syndrome, we monitored flowering phenology (including also second flowering events) of 29 herbaceous species along two elevational gradients ranging from 700 to 1800 m a.s.l. in two consecutive years. FFD was delayed with increasing elevation. LFD followed two alternative strategies: species which ceased flowering early in the season delayed LFD with increasing elevation, species which ceased flowering late did not change LFD. FD decreased with increasing elevation in most species. The timing of flowering phenology had strong influences on the intensity of change along the elevational gradient and other stages of flowering phenology. Many species showed a second flowering event which occurred irrespective of elevation, suggesting a link to unsuccessful pollination rather than temperature. Life history strategies helped explain patterns of flowering phenology and a species’ ability to track changes in abiotic conditions, e.g. evergreen species started to flower earlier than summer green species and insect-pollinated species were able to expand FD most. These findings give insight into species-specific changes in phenological patterns and thus plant performance with changing environment. They should be considered when assessing the consequences of environmental change at both the community and ecosystem level.

中文翻译：

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29种草本植物的花型随海拔梯度变化，并与生活史策略相关

开花物候的模式，即第一和最后一个开花日（FFD和LFD）和开花持续时间（FD）控制着植物的授粉和繁殖。大多数研究都集中在FFD上，而LFD，FD和第二次开花事件尽管是关键事件，却被忽略了。为了评估开花模式是否随非生物条件的变化而特定地改变物种，以及这些条件是否与叶片持久性，繁殖和授粉综合症有关，我们监测了29个草本物种沿着两个海拔梯度（从700到700）的开花物候（包括第二开花事件）。连续两年1800 m asl。FFD随着海拔升高而延迟。LFD采取了两种替代策略：在季节早期停止开花的物种会随着海拔的升高而延迟LFD；停止开花的树种没有改变LFD。在大多数物种中，FD随着海拔的升高而降低。开花物候的时间对沿海拔梯度和开花物候其他阶段的变化强度有很大的影响。许多物种显示出第二次开花事件，而不论其升高程度如何，都表明其与授粉失败而不是温度有关。生命史策略有助于解释开花物候的模式以及物种追踪非生物条件变化的能力，例如常绿物种比夏季绿色物种开始开花的时间更早，而昆虫授粉物种则能够最大程度地扩展FD。这些发现提供了对物候模式中特定物种变化的洞察力，并因此洞察了环境变化带来的植物性能。