Low temperatures and the short growing season in high altitude snow patches in temperate mountains constrain life cycles and reproduction of snowbed species. This leads to a highly adapted timing of sexual reproduction. Winter precipitation and temperature, the main factors determining growing season length, are predicted to change with global warming. To understand their impacts on plant phenology, we studied the responses of seven alpine vascular plant species during 2001.

Temperature had a clear impact on phenological patterns. The start of the reproductive development was not directly linked with the date of snowmelt, but rather with the cumulative energy input. In addition, photoperiodism may also contribute to the control of plant development through an increasing temporal adjustment of phenology until flowering.