Phenology–trait relationships across different scales and organizational levels

Abstract This Special Focus examines how linking functional traits with phenology improves our understanding of how organisms respond to environmental change. It synthesizes studies across global gradients, field observations, experiments and conceptual work, showing that phenology–trait relationships are strongly scale‐ and context‐dependent. These relationships are shaped by understudied trait dimensions, such as genome size, below‐ground storage organs, internal carbon dynamics, winter activity and early life stages. Collectively, the studies highlight the importance of integrating observational networks, experiments and models to capture the dynamic coupling between traits, phenology and environmental change. The collection calls for research that links phenology and traits in taxonomic groups beyond vascular plants, explicitly considers biotic interactions and assesses the direct implications of phenological change for ecosystem functioning. Such approaches are still rare but essential for fully integrating the processes that drive ecosystem functions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.