Abstract
PremiseFlowering phenology may differ among life forms due to the costs and benefits to attract pollinators, dependence on outcross pollination, and resource availability in their habitats. However, few studies have compared flowering phenology among life forms within a community and described flowering phenology at the individual, species, and community levels.MethodsWe recorded flowering events for individuals of insect‐pollinated trees, perennial herbs, and annuals from spring to summer of 2016 and 2017 in a warm‐temperate forest in Japan. To compare phenological variables including mean and variance of flowering length, we standardized the number of observed individuals for each species and tested differences in variables, considering the phylogenetic relationships among species.ResultsTotal flowering length in trees (9–50 d) was significantly shorter than perennial herbs (27–113 d) or annuals (22–89 d), but mean flowering length was not significantly different among them. Flowering length variance was significantly smaller and intraspecies synchrony significantly higher in trees than in perennial herbs and annuals. At the community level, flowering times largely overlapped among successively flowering species, but interspecies synchrony was positive for all life forms.ConclusionsShorter total flowering length and higher intraspecific synchrony in trees are explained by a modified pollinator attraction hypothesis suggesting that selection favors higher intraspecific synchrony because it promotes between‐individual movement of pollinators. At the community level, positive interspecific synchrony for all life forms supports the hypothesis that flowering times tend to converge among species.
Highlights
PREMISE: Flowering phenology may differ among life forms due to the costs and benefits to attract pollinators, dependence on outcross pollination, and resource availability in their habitats
total flowering length of species (TFL) ranged from 27 days in Sedum bulbiferum Makino to 113 days in Trifolium repens; the TFL in annual species ranged from 22 days in Veronica hederifolia L. to 89 days in Torilis japonica DC. (Fig. 2)
The differences in flowering phenology variables (TFL, variance of flowering length of individuals (VFL) and intraspecies synchrony) among trees, perennial herbs, and annuals are likely to be explained by the modified pollinator attraction hypothesis for trees, and the resource availability hypothesis in unpredictable habitats for annuals
Summary
We recorded flowering events for individuals of insect-pollinated trees, perennial herbs, and annuals from spring to summer of 2016 and 2017 in a warmtemperate forest in Japan. To compare phenological variables including mean and variance of flowering length, we standardized the number of observed individuals for each species and tested differences in variables, considering the phylogenetic relationships among species. Plants were monitored for flowering once a week from 1 March to 31 July in 2016 and 2017 in the biodiversity reserve of Ito campus (33°35′47.5′′N, 130°12′50.0′′E; Fig. 1), Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, an area of about 37 ha at an elevation from 20 to 57 m a.s.l., where monthly average temperatures fluctuated from 6.2°C in January to 27.4°C in August (a 21.2°C difference), and monthly precipitation fluctuated from 75.5 mm in March to 337 mm in June (261.5 mm difference)
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