Plant phenology differs largely among coexisting species within communities that share similar habitat conditions. However, the factors explaining such phenological diversity of plants have not been fully investigated. We hypothesize that species traits, including leaf mass per area (LMA), seed mass, stem tissue mass density (STD), maximum plant height (H_max), and relative growth rate in height (RGR_H), explain variation in plant phenology, and tested this hypothesis in an alpine meadow. Results showed that both LMA and STD were positively correlated with the onset (i.e., beginning) and offset (i.e., ending) times of the four life history events including two reproductive events (flowering and fruiting) and two vegetative events (leafing and senescing). In contrast, RGR_H was negatively correlated with the four life phenological events. Moreover, H_max was positively correlated with reproductive events but not with vegetative events. However, none of the eight phenological events was associated with seed size. In addition, the combination of LMA and STD accounted for 50% of the variation in plant phenologies. Phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis showed plant phylogeny weakened the relationships between species traits vs. phenologies. Phylogeny significantly regulated the variation in the ending but not the beginning of phenologies. Our results indicate that species traits are robust indicators for plant phenologies and can be used to explain the diversity of plant phenologies among co-occurring herbaceous species in grasslands. The findings highlight the important role of the combination of and trade-offs between functional traits in determing plant phenology diversity in the alpine meadow.

在具有相似栖息地条件的社区中，共存物种之间的植物物候差异很大。但是，尚未充分研究解释这种植物物候多样性的因素。我们假设物种特征，包括单位面积的叶质量（LMA），种子质量，茎组织质量密度（STD），最大植物高度（H _max）和高度相对生长率（RGR _H），可以解释植物物候的变化。 ，并在高山草甸上验证了这一假设。结果显示，LMA和STD与四个生命历史事件（包括两个生殖事件（开花和结实）和两个营养事件（起泡和衰老））的发作（即开始）和偏移（即结束）时间呈正相关。 。相比之下，RGR_H与四个生命物候事件呈负相关。而且，H _max与生殖事件呈正相关，但与营养事件无正相关。但是，八个物候事件均与种子大小无关。此外，LMA和STD的组合占植物物候变化的50％。系统发育广义最小二乘分析表明，植物系统发育弱化了物种性状与物候之间的关系。系统发育显着地调节了物候的开始而不是开始的变化。我们的结果表明，物种性状是植物物候学的可靠指标，可用于解释草原上同时存在的草本物种之间植物物候学的多样性。