Flowering phenology of plants, which is important for reproductive growth, has been shown to be influenced by climate change. Understanding how flowering phenology responds to climate change and exploring the variation of this response across plant groups can help predict structural and functional changes in plant communities in response to ongoing climate change. Here, we used long-term collections of 33 flowering plant species from the Gongga Mountains (Mt. Gongga hereafter), a biodiversity hotspot, to investigate how plant flowering phenology changed over the past 70 years in response to climate change. We found that mean flowering times in Mt. Gongga were delayed in all vegetation types and elevations over the last 70 years. Furthermore, flowering time was delayed more in lowlands than at high elevations. Interestingly, we observed that spring-flowering plants show earlier flowering times whereas summer/autumn plants show delayed flowering times. Non-synchronous flowering phenology across species was mainly driven by changes in temperature and precipitation. We also found that the flowering phenology of 78.8% plant species was delayed in response to warming temperatures. Our findings also indicate that the magnitude and direction of variation in plant flowering times vary significantly among species along elevation gradients. Shifts in flowering time might cause trophic mismatches with co-occurring and related species, affecting both forest ecosystem structure and function.

Mountains have been recognized as biodiversity hotspots and possess strong elevational gradients. Whether these gradients exhibit similar characteristics in the multidimensional diversity patterns across different mountain ranges is a subject of inquiry. Exploring the elevational patterns of the diversity and phylogenetic information of plant species in the different subtropical mountains is necessary. Here, we compiled the elevational patterns of plant diversity occurring in the eight subtropical mountains of China and focused on the assessment of the patterns and determinants of the multi‐dimensional diversity and phylogenetic structure in different mountains. We also detected the elevational patterns and their relationship between different groups. The results indicate two main patterns of multi‐dimensional diversity: monotonic decrease and hump‐shaped, along with the area effect on the species diversity. There is a strong positive link between the non‐native and native species of species richness, and significant differences in phylogenetic structure's elevational distribution. We did not find the same rule in the mountains that the plant species in the lowlands indicate phylogenetic overdispersion, and the species in the higher elevation regions indicate phylogenetic clustering. We found that the plants' diversity peak is related to the mountains size, and this result showed that we should pay more attention to the conservation of plant communities in the higher elevation regions for the higher mountains. This study suggested that we should take different protective measures for the subtropical mountains: the lowland regions should be paid more attention in Mt. Lushan (LS), Mt. Guanshan (GS), Mt. Huanggang (HG), and Mt. Fanjing (FJ), and the middle‐altitude regions should be of concern for other mountains. This study helps to better understand the elevational gradients of species diversity on different scales and provides supporting scientific basis for biodiversity conservation in the subtropical mountain regions.

Objective Plant functional traits can effectively characterize plant adaptation to environmental changes，and flower color is one of the important functional traits of plant sexual reproduction.Exploring the spatial and temporal distribution pattern and influencing factors in flower color of flowering plants in Gongga Mountain is of of significant scientific value for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of floral traits in alpine ecosystems and providing theoretical support for biodiversity conservation in mountainous regions. Method The flower color of flowering plants in Gongga Mountain were investigated along 9 altitude gradients from May，July and September of 2018 and 2019，the characteristics such as flower color and flowering date were recorded.The vegetation characteristics of different altitude gradients，climate factors and human activity interference were combined with geospatial analysis techniques and regression models to explore the spatio-temporal variation of the species proportion of different flower colors in Gongga Mountain and its relationship with environmental factors. Result （1）White flowers account for the highest proportion of plant species in Gongga Mountain，up to 27%，followed by yellow and purple flowers，accounting for 22% and 17%，respectively.There are significant differences in the proportion of flower color types among different life forms of plant species.In both trees and shrubs，white flowers account for 54% and 30%，respectively；in herbs，yellow flowers account for 25%，and in vines，red and purple flowers account for 25%.（2）Along the altitude gradient，the proportions of flower color species along the altitudinal gradient exhibit regular patterns.The flower colors of plant species at low altitude are mainly red，those at middle altitude were mainly red and white，and those at high altitude were mostly purple，yellow and blue.（3）The composition of plant species with different flower colors varies across survey months.July exhibits the highest flower color diversity，with white-flowered species accounting for the largest proportion in May，July，and September，followed by yellow-flowered species.（4）The proportion of blue，yellow and purple flower species along the altitude gradient is significantly correlated with climatic factors and human influence index，suggesting that the flower color pattern of Gongga Mountain is jointly regulated by climatic conditions and human interference. Conclusion The flower colors of plant species in Gongga Mountain exhibit significant spatial variation patterns along altitudinal gradients and monthly dynamic patterns.The formation of temporal and spatial pattern of flower color of flowering plants is not only regulated by climatic factors such as temperature，precipitation and evapotranspiration，but also related to the interference of human activities.Further research on the evolutionary ecology of flower color is needed to provide more first-hand information for understanding and protecting plant diversity.