Advanced flowering phenology of restored grasslands

Plants introduced to degraded ecosystems in the framework of ecosystem restoration are commonly challenged by novel environmental conditions. Consequently, plant functional traits can differ between restored and reference sites, even within individual species. Studies on such intraspecific variation mainly focused on vegetative traits, while timing of life history events, phenology, received less attention so far. To address this gap, we focused on reproductive phenology of 16 flowering plant species and compared it between 47 restored meadows and 16 reference meadows in the same region. We found that plants in restored meadows flowered on average two days earlier compared to the reference, semi-natural meadows. This trend was particularly strong among early-flowering species. The potential reasons for these phenological differences are environmental differences, such as warmer microclimatic conditions and different soil properties in restored meadows; and differences in management practices, such as earlier mowing. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of restoration outcomes and underscore the importance of considering restoration-induced phenological shifts in conservation and management practices.