Researchers in Switzerland have made an interesting discovery: with the climate changing rapidly some endangered species are taking to the mountains. The various microclimates experienced in alpine locations make mountains an ideal place for refuge habitats for a variety of plants.
What makes alpine climates so useful? With good exposure, low alpine vegetation has the opportunity to warm up quickly. When the clouds move in and temperatures drop, warmth is retained in the soil, keeping critical root structures comfortable.
How Critical Will Climate Change Be to Plants?
Research models predict that only about 3% of all types of climate conditions will change, meaning that there is the potential for most species to find some niche in which to survive the warming trend. Cooler habitats are expected to shrink, but that doesnt necessarily mean that there will be a widespread devastation of cool climate plants.
On the positive side, warmer weather also means that diversity may actually increase in warm climate regions. Mountainous areas will be critical to maintaining a full range of species, but this study seems to indicate that full scale depletion will not occur.
The Threat Remains Real
Even with such hopeful findings there is plenty of evidence that plants will suffer if the weather continues to warm. In Germany scientists estimate that 20% of indigenous plant species will lose significant portions of their native habitat if average temperatures increase by as little as 3.8 degrees Celsius.
Another anticipated change is the location of forests. As the planet warms, large swathes of trees may move as much as 700 kilometers north to keep up with the cooler temperatures they need. Additionally, agricultural zones can be expected to move as well or require considerably more watering and care.
Depending upon mountainous regions to save essential species is not a realistic plan, especially if one is discussing feeding a growing population. There is considerable doubt that plants accustomed to warmer climates will be able to repopulate areas with sufficient speed as they become denuded of their current vegetation.
Even with dire predictions and many questions about how the planet will continue to change along with climatic deviations, it is good to know that some plants will still have a home in the mountains.
Michael Rupkalvis works with the LedBulbsandLights website. The site features a variety of different types of environmentally-friendly LED products, including LED lamps and other LED bulbs.
