Phenology and seed setting success of snowbed plant species in contrasting snowmelt regimes in the Central Pyrenees

Plant growth and performance in snowbed communities are strongly influenced by the length of the growing period remaining after the snowmelt date. Under the scenario of climate change, studying the phenological responses of snowbed species to variations in snowmelt date might be crucial to understand their ability to adapt and survive under changing conditions. We studied 13 plant species from contrasting biological and ecological groups (i.e. ‘snowbed specialists’, ‘preferential species’ and ‘generalist species’) growing in four snowbed plots with siliceous substrates in the Central Pyrenees. These species were monitored for two consecutive years and in two different microsites, namely the central part and the peripheral part of each snowbed plot. We characterised their phenological cycle and length and their success in seed setting, measured as the number of individuals succeeding in dispersing their seeds.