Phenology has emerged as key indicator of the biological impacts of climate change, yet the role of functional traits constraining variation in herbaceous species' phenology has received little attention. Botanical gardens are ideal places in which to investigate large numbers of species growing under common climate conditions. We ask whether interspecific variation in plant phenology is influenced by differences in functional traits. We recorded onset, end, duration and intensity of initial growth, leafing out, leaf senescence, flowering and fruiting for 212 species across five botanical gardens in Germany. We measured functional traits, including plant height, absolute and specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf carbon and nitrogen content and seed mass and accounted for species' relatedness. Closely related species showed greater similarities in timing of phenological events than expected by chance, but species' traits had a high degree of explanatory power, pointing to paramount importance of species' life-history strategies. Taller plants showed later timing of initial growth, and flowered, fruited and underwent leaf senescence later. Large-leaved species had shorter flowering and fruiting durations. Taller, large-leaved species differ in their phenology and are more competitive than smaller, small-leaved species. We assume climate warming will change plant communities' competitive hierarchies with consequences for biodiversity.

Apatity Murmansk Region 184209 Russia

Biology Department Boston University Boston MA 02215 USA

Botanic Garden Berlin Freie Universität Berlin Berlin 14195 Germany

Core Facility Botanical Garden University Vienna Vienna 1030 Austria

Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Prague 12801 Czech Republic

Department of Botany University of Kashmir Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir 190006 India

Department of Ecosystem Services Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig 04318 Germany

Ecology and Conservation Biology Institute of Plant Sciences University of Regensburg Regensburg 93053 Germany

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig 04103 Germany

Institute of Biochemistry and Biology Department of Biodiversity Research Systematic Botany with Botanical Garden University of Potsdam Potsdam 14469 Germany

Institute of Biodiversity Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena 07743 Germany

Institute of Biology Geobotany and Botanical Garden Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg Halle 06108 Germany

Institute of Biology Leipzig University Leipzig 04103 Germany

Institute of Ecology and Evolution with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena 07743 Germany

Institute of Evolution and Ecology University of Tübingen Tübingen 72076 Germany

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena 07745 Germany

Palmengarten and Botanical Garden Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main 60323 Germany

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