Observing shifts in phenology of tropical flowering plants.

ABSTRACT: Changes in flowering can cause misalignment with pollinators and seed dispersers, thus causing changes in fitness of both the plant species and their mutualists. Phenological shifts in tropical flowering plants are poorly documented despite the widely understood importance of measuring flowering phenology. It has been hypothesized that changes in tropical flowering have been less severe than those in non-tropical latitudes due to minimal change in temperature annually. Furthermore, many tropical species flower continuously throughout the year, as they are not restricted by a cold induced dormancy period. To test this hypothesis, we used museum specimens to examine shifts in phenology of flowering plant species from across the global tropics. We identified species that flower once a year, e

SUBMITTER: Graves S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12935240 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature