Phenology has achieved a prominent position in current scenarios of global change research given its role in monitoring and predicting the timing of recurrent life cycle events. However, the implications of phenology to environmental conservation and management remain poorly explored. Here, we present the first explicit appraisal of how phenology -a multidisciplinary science encompassing biometeorology, ecology, and evolutionary biology -can make a key contribution to contemporary conservation biology. We focus on shifts in plant phenology induced by global change, their impacts on species diversity and plantanimal interactions in the tropics, and how conservation efforts could be enhanced in relation to plant resource organization. We identify the effects of phenological changes and mismatches in the maintenance and conservation of mutualistic interactions, and examine how phenological research can contribute to evaluate, manage and mitigate the consequences of land-use change and other natural and anthropogenic disturbances, such as fire, exotic and invasive species. We also identify cutting-edge tools that can improve the spatial and temporal coverage of phenological monitoring, from satellites to drones and digital cameras. We highlight the role of historical information in recovering long-term phenological time series, and track climate-related shifts in tropical systems. Finally, we propose a set of measures to boost the contribution of phenology to conservation science. We advocate the inclusion of phenology into predictive models integrating evolutionary history to identify species groups that are either resilient or sensitive to future climatechange scenarios, and understand how phenological mismatches can affect community dynamics, ecosystem services, and conservation over time. We hereby submit the revised draft of our 'Perspectives' manuscript entitled "Linking plant phenology to conservation biology" to which we now incorporate the rather minor changes suggested by the reviewers. While responding to those very positive comments, we also indicate how we have incorporated the reviewers' remarks. UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTAWe thank you and the reviewers again for all the suggestions that have improved our The MS is well written, integrates interesting different aspects of plant phenology and provide a guide to include phenology in prospective long-term studies and management plans. Therefore the study is of general interest for a wide audience, particularly for Biological Conservation readers.Next, I suggest some changes to improve the current version of the MS 1. Authors comment the effect of climate and land use change on Section 4. For example, they argue that edge effect "increase of flowering and fruiting activity" (Line #389) or fragmentation affect reproductive success. Yet, these are functional responses of plant populations to different types of disturbances/changes, but they do not necessary entail changes in phenology. Please, review the MS and make sure that you only include ...

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Summary Colour signals are the main floral trait for plant–pollinator communication. Owing to visual specificities, flower visitors exert different selective pressures on flower colour signals of plant communities. Although they evolved to attract pollinators, matching their visual sensitivity and colour preferences, floral signals may also evolve to avoid less efficient pollinators and antagonistic flower visitors. We evaluated evidence for the bee avoidance hypothesis in a Neotropical community pollinated mainly by bees and hummingbirds, the campo rupestre. We analysed flower reflectance spectra, compared colour variables of bee‐pollinated flowers (bee‐flowers; 244 species) and hummingbird‐pollinated flowers (hummingbird‐flowers; 39 species), and looked for evidence of bee sensorial exclusion in hummingbird‐flowers. Flowers were equally contrasting for hummingbirds. Hummingbird‐flowers were less conspicuous to bees, reflecting mainly long wavelengths and avoiding red‐blind visitors. Bee‐flowers reflected more short wavelengths, were more conspicuous to bees (higher contrasts and spectral purity) than hummingbird‐flowers and displayed floral guides more frequently, favouring flower attractiveness, discrimination and handling by bees. Along with no phylogenetic signal, the differences in colour signal strategies between bee‐ and hummingbird‐flowers are the first evidence of the bee avoidance hypothesis at a community level and reinforce the role of pollinators as a selective pressure driving flower colour diversity.

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The deciduousness of tropical trees and communities depend on ecosystems characteristics such as plant species diversity, and strength of the dry season. Based on seven years of phenological observations, we provide the first long‐term description of leafing patterns of a woody cerrado community, aiming to investigate (1) the leaf exchange strategies considering the interannual variation in the degree of deciduousness of individuals and species and quantify the community deciduousness; (2) the relationship between interannual patterns of leaf fall and leaf flush according to the species’ leaf exchange strategies and climate; (3) the onset of cerrado growing season and its relation to climate seasonality. To detect seasonality and leafing onset we applied circular statistics and to understand the relationships between environmental predictors and leaf exchange strategies, we used generalized additive models. From 106 species observed, we classified 69 as deciduous (26 species), semi‐deciduous (25) or evergreen (18) and defined the studied cerrado as a semi‐deciduous vegetation. Leaf phenology was markedly seasonal and similar among years. Leaf fall peaked in the dry season, and leaf flush in the dry‐to‐wet transition. Leaf fall patterns related to temperature and leaf flush to day length and rainfall. Semi‐deciduous and deciduous species were more constrained by climate than the evergreen ones. The cerrado growing season started in the dry‐to‐wet season transition. Interannual variations in rainfall and temperature affected the individuals’ and, consequently, species’ degree of deciduousness, highlighting individual and species variability, and suggesting that cerrado leafing patterns are likely susceptible to future climate change scenarios.

The Brazilian cerrado has undergone an intense process of fragmentation, which leads to an increase in the number of remnants exposed to edge effects and associated changes on environmental conditions that may affect the phenology of plants. This study aimed to verify whether the reproductive phenology of Xylopia aromatica (Lam.) Mart. (Annonaceae) differs under different light conditions in a cerrado sensu stricto (a woody savanna) of southeastern Brazil. We compared the reproductive phenology of X. aromatica trees distributed on east and south cardinal faces of the cerrado during monthly observations, from January 2005 to December 2008. The east face had a higher light incidence, higher temperatures and canopy openness in relation to south face. X. aromatica showed seasonal reproduction at both faces of the cerrado, but the percentage of individuals, the synchrony and duration of phenophases were higher at the east face. The study demonstrated the influence of the environmental conditions associated to the cardinal orientation of the cerrado faces on the phenological pattern of X. aromatica. Similar responses may be observed for other species, ultimately affecting patterns of floral visitation and fruit production, which reinforces the importance of considering the cardinal direction in studies of edge effects and fragmentation.

Communication contributes to mediate the interactions between plants and the animals that disperse their genes. As yet, seasonal patterns in plant–animal communication are unknown, even though many habitats display pronounced seasonality e.g. when leaves senescence. We thus hypothesized that the contrast between fruit displays and their background vary throughout the year in a seasonal habitat. If this variation is adaptive, we predicted higher contrasts between fruits and foliage during the fruiting season in a cerrado–savanna vegetation, southeastern Brazil. Based on a six‐year data base of fruit ripening and a one‐year data set of fruit biomass, we used reflectance measurements and contrast analysis to show that fruits with distinct colors differed in the beginning of ripening and the peak of fruit biomass. Black, and particularly red fruits, that have a high contrast against the leaf background, were highly seasonal, peaking in the wet season. Multicolored and yellow fruits were less seasonal, not limited to one season, with a bimodal pattern for yellow ones, represented by two peaks, one in each season. We further supported the hypothesis that seasonal changes in fruit contrasts can be adaptive because fruits contrasted more strongly against their own foliage in the wet season, when most fruits are ripe. Hence, the seasonal variation in fruit colors observed in the cerrado–savanna may be, at least partly, explicable as an adaptation to ensure high conspicuousness to seed dispersers.

-(Structure and floristic composition of a Cerrado sensu stricto and its relevance to ecological restauration). Edges are transition areas between two adjacent ecosystems that can be originated by natural or anthropogenic events. The edge influence includes both direct effects, related to changes on microenvironmental factors, as well as indirect effects, related to changes in species interactions. Additionally, some studies suggest that microenvironmental factors are altered by the cardinal orientation of the edge. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of edge on microenvironmental factors, local soil conditions, woody vegetation structure, and species richness in a Cerrado sensu stricto at Itirapina, São Paulo State, Brazil. Specifically, we investigated whether microenvironmental factors (relative humidity (%), photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), temperature and percentage of canopy cover), soil conditions and vegetation composition differ among plots (36 plots of 25 × 2 m spaced 50 m apart) distributed on the edge and in the interior, facing east and south sides of the Cerrado. We sampled all woody trees and treelets with circumference ≥ 3 cm at 30 cm from its ground base within each plot. The microenvironmental variables relative humidity, PAR (photosynthetic active radiation), temperature and percent of canopy openness, and the soil samples (0-20 cm deep) for nutrients and texture analyses, were all collected at three points within each plot. We recorded a total of 120 woody species distributed among 40 plant families. Among the structural parameters of vegetation, only the absolute density was significantly higher in the interior south of the Cerrado. The microenvironmental factors were significantly different between the east and south sides, but did not differ between edge and interior. Therefore, based on the environmental and structural parameters we evaluated, there was no evidence of edge influence in the Cerrado studied. However, the east and south faces and associated microenvironmental factors, and the presence of some nutrients in the soil, such as Mn, affected the Cerrado vegetation structure and species composition. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account the cardinal orientation in addition to the soil nutrient and microenvironment parameters to better understand the factors influencing the vegetation at a local scale. Key words: diversity, edge influence, microclimate, savanna, similarity, species richness RESUMO -(Estrutura e composição florística de um Cerrado sensu stricto e sua importância para propostas de restauração ecológica). Bordas são áreas de transição entre dois ecossistemas e podem ter origem natural ou antrópica. A influência de borda inclui tanto os efeitos diretos, relacionados às alterações microambientais, como os efeitos indiretos que afetam as interações entre espécies. Adicionalmente, estudos sugerem que a orientação cardinal pode modificar os efeitos microambientais da borda. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a influência d...