ArticlePLoS biology2022
Seasonal timing on a cyclical Earth: Towards a theoretical framework for the evolution of phenology.
Article in PLoS biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Pathogen Epidemic Timing in a Seasonal Environment.Ecology letters · 2026Article
- Rapid Surveys Reveal Temporal Variation in Flowering Community Phenology in a Great Basin Desert Ecosystem.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Testing a General Theory for Optimal Flowering Time in Deciduous Perennial Plants as a Function of Growing Season Length.Ecology letters · 2026Article
- Article
- Summer solstice optimizes the thermal growing season.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Phenological and morphological variations of Oryza rufipogon and O. nivara in Sri Lanka and their evolutionary implications.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Cross-continental comparison of plant reproductive phenology shows high intraspecific variation in temperature sensitivity.AoB PLANTS · 2024Article
- Global analysis of seasonal changes in trematode infection levels reveals weak and variable link to temperature.Oecologia · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Phenology refers to the seasonal timing patterns commonly exhibited by life on Earth, from blooming flowers to breeding birds to human agriculture. Climate change is altering abiotic seasonality (e.g., longer summers) and in turn, phenological patterns contained within. However, how phenology should evolve is still an unsolved problem. This problem lies at the crux of predicting future phenological changes that will likely have substantial ecosystem consequences, and more fundamentally, of understanding an undeniably global phenomenon. Most studies have associated proximate environmental variables with phenological responses in case-specific ways, making it difficult to contextualize observations within a general evolutionary framework. We outline the complex but universal ways in which seasonal timing maps onto evolutionary fitness. We borrow lessons from life history theory and evolutionary demography that have benefited from a first principles-based theoretical scaffold. Lastly, we identify key questions for theorists and empiricists to help advance our general understanding of phenology.
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