Vegetative and reproductive phenology in seasonal climate vegetation: phenological complementarity between woody and herbaceous plants in the Brazilian Chaco

Woody and herbaceous plants have different phenological strategies in seasonally dry vegetation. In the Brazilian Chaco vegetation, there was continuous leaf flush and leaf fall. However, in contrast to the woody plants, the herbaceous plants tend to have some fluctuations throughout the year. The flowering of herbaceous plants is more intense during the rainy season, while woody plants have two flowering peaks, one of which is in the dry season. The fruiting of herbaceous species is concentrated in the rainy season, while in woody species, the mean dates differed between plants with biotic and abiotic dispersion. We did not detect phylogenetic signals regarding the phenological patterns of the dispersal phase, although dispersal modes help to explain fruiting phenology, especially in woody species.