Among-individual variation in flowering phenology affects flowering synchrony and mating opportunity

Premise of the study: The timing and pattern of a plant’s flowering can have important consequences for reproductive success. Variation in flowering phenology may influence the number of prospective mates, the risk of mating with lower quality individuals, and the likelihood of self-pollination. Here we use a common garden experiment to explore within- and among-population variation in phenology. Our work provides new insights into how flowering phenology shapes mating opportunity and flowering synchrony in a self-compatible perennial.
Methods: To quantify variation in flowering phenology we raised progeny from nine populations of Mimulus ringens in a common garden. For each individual, we measured phenological traits including age at flowering onset, daily floral display size, total flower number, and flowering synchrony with other members of the population, and related these traits to mating opportunity. We also tested how individual flowering schedules influence the magnitude of sync..., , , # Among-individual variation in flowering phenology affects flowering synchrony and mating opportunity

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9zw3r22n6](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9zw3r22n6)

Data set containing phenology data for 341 individuals from 9 populations of *Mimulus ringens* in a common garden.

## Description of the data and file structure

Column descriptions:
Unless otherwise specified, a value of NA indicates a missing value.
block: either 1 and 2; plants in block 1 were maternal siblings of plants in block 2.
population: ECM, HBP, LEB, LIB, LNB, MCW, MSB, RIS, or STR; code refers to population from which the seeds used in this experiment were collected.
family\_id: number refers to unique ID of maternal plant from which experimental plants were collected as seeds.
age\_fl\_onset: the age, in days since sowing, that a plant opened its first flower.
disp\_dayXXX: column names refer to julian date (185-222) on which the number of open flowers were counted, hereafter called cens...