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Drought sensitivity is known to affect plant species distribution. However, since every stage of plant life cycle has its own water requirements, plant performance and productivity is largely influenced by the timing of water stress. Variation in drought sensitivity between stages might explain recently observed changes in tree age structure along environmental gradients as well as species-specific responses to drought, yet it has poorly been taken into account in species distribution models (SDMs). In this paper we discuss how plant responses to water availability during various life stages influence species distribution and abundance. We define the role of water availability at the stage of gametophyte, zygote, seed and seedling and explain the nature of drought-related injuries. Moreover, we review examples that illustrate how plants adjust their phenology to cope with water stress at early stages of plant life cycle. We also discuss possible ways forward of incorporating the effect of water availability on different stages of the reproductive cycle into correlative and process-based plant species distribution models (SDMs) in order to improve the accuracy of their predictions.