Fine-Scale Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Intra- and Inter-Site Variation in <i>Taraxacum officinale</i> Flowering Phenology

Understanding how flowering phenology varies across spatial scales is essential for assessing plant responses to environmental heterogeneity under climate change. In this study, we investigated the flowering phenology of the plant species <i>Taraxacum officinale</i> across five sites in an agricultural region of Wanju, Republic of Korea. Each site contained five 1 m × 1 m quadrats, where the number of flowering heads was recorded at 1- to 2-day intervals during the spring flowering period (February to May). We applied the nlstimedist package in R to model flowering distributions and to estimate key phenological metrics including flowering onset (5%), peak (50%), and end (95%). The results revealed substantial variation in flowering timing and duration at both the intra-site (quadrat-level) and inter-site (site-level) scales. Across all sites, the mean onset, peak, end, and duration of flowering were day of year (DOY) 89.6, 101.5, 117.6, and 28.0, respectively. Although flowering onset showed relatively small variation across sites (DOY 88 to 92), flowering peak (DOY 97 to 108) and end dates (DOY 105 to 128) exhibited larger differences at the site level. Sites with dry soils and regularly mowed <i>Zoysia japonica</i> vegetation with minimal understory exhibited shorter flowering durations, while those with moist soils, complex microtopography, and diverse slope orientations showed delayed and prolonged flowering. These findings suggest that microhabitat variability—including landform type, slope direction, soil water content, and soil temperature—plays a key role in shaping local flowering dynamics. Recognizing this fine-scale heterogeneity is essential for improving phenological models and informing site-specific climate adaptation strategies.