Plant species 'climbing higher' to escape global warming
Friday, 27 Jun 2008 00:02
The Bure summit located in the Dévoluy range of the French Alps
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As the world's temperature heats up plants are being forced to seek suitable environments on higher ground, a new study has found.
Scientists from France and Chile calculated that many planet species have climbed an average of 29 meters in altitude each decade.
They compared the distribution of 171 forest plant species along the entire elevation range of six mountain ranges in west Europe (0 to 2,600 meters above sea level) between 1905 to 1985 and 1986 to 2005.
Their findings, published in the journal Science, show that changes in the climate not only affect the latitudinal and longitudinal distribution of plant species, but also the altitudinal distribution.
Species that are from the same area and have similar physical traits were also found to show similar patterns of change.
Mountainous species moved upwards the most out of the plants studied, backing up the theory that plant species would be more sensitive to climate change at high-altitude locations.
The researchers argue that the findings improve understanding of current and potential climate change impacts on mountain forest ecosystems.
"Further studies aimed at disentangling the magnitude and consequences of these changes, and their impact on species persistence and ecosystem functioning, are urgently needed," they conclude.