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Non-native Plants (in Ohio) Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/flowers.htm[font face=Serif]10/5/12
[font size=5]Non-native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change[/font]
[font size=3]COLUMBUS, Ohio – Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state’s landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.
This adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives’ potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say.
The research combines analyses of temperature change and blooming patterns of 141 species of Ohio wildflowers since 1895. Overall, the average temperature increased 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) in Ohio between 1895 and 2009. And 66 wildflower species – or 46 percent of the 141 studied – flowered earlier than usual in response to that warming.
…
What’s a potential conservationist to do to protect biodiversity among these species? Calinger said preservation of wild areas could go a long way toward protecting native wildflowers, and that assessments such as hers could help identify areas housing at-risk species that should be left undeveloped. Some tender species could be moved to more favorable locations, but there is no consensus among scientists that this strategy would work, she said.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]Non-native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change[/font]
[font size=3]COLUMBUS, Ohio – Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state’s landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.
This adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives’ potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say.
The research combines analyses of temperature change and blooming patterns of 141 species of Ohio wildflowers since 1895. Overall, the average temperature increased 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) in Ohio between 1895 and 2009. And 66 wildflower species – or 46 percent of the 141 studied – flowered earlier than usual in response to that warming.
…
What’s a potential conservationist to do to protect biodiversity among these species? Calinger said preservation of wild areas could go a long way toward protecting native wildflowers, and that assessments such as hers could help identify areas housing at-risk species that should be left undeveloped. Some tender species could be moved to more favorable locations, but there is no consensus among scientists that this strategy would work, she said.
…[/font][/font]
