Seasonal drought timing shapes flowering phenology directly and through biotic interactions

Flowering time underpins plant fitness, species coexistence, and ecosystem functioning. While global warming consistently advances flowering, the influence of water availability remains unclear. We hypothesized that this inconsistency reflects the overlooked timing of drought. In 200 experimental Mediterranean annual-plant communities, we imposed early-, mid-, and late-season dry periods and grew plants in monocultures and mixtures to disentangle physiological and competition-mediated responses. Early and late droughts shortened flowering duration: early drought delayed onset, late drought advanced termination. Some shifts were direct, others emerged through competition. A new community-level index revealed greater phenological segregation in mixtures, showing that plasticity alone can generate niche separation under competition. Both early and late droughts further enhanced this segregation. Together, our results demonstrate that the seasonal timing of drought governs flowering responses through both direct physiological pathways and indirect biotic interactions, emphasizing rainfall seasonality as a key driver of ecological responses to climate change. Impact statementSince flowering time is crucial to ecosystem functioning, shifts in the timing of drought could have far-reaching effects on the performance and resilience of ecological communities. Our study shows that droughts effect on flowering is dependent on their timing and influenced by interactions with neighboring species. This means that understanding how plants respond to changing water conditions requires looking beyond single species, considering both seasonality and community interactions.