Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Climate change: Diseqilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/au-ccd062813.php[font face=Serif]Public release date: 1-Jul-2013
Contact: Jens-Christian Svenning
svenning@biology.au.dk
45-28-99-23-04
Aarhus University
[font size=5]Climate change: Diseqilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future[/font]
[font size=4]Global climate change will induce large changes to the plant communities on Earth[/font]
[font size=3]The forest we are used to looking at is not at all in equilibrium. Since the Ice Age, a number of plants have been 'missing' in Northern Europe, i.e. species that have not yet arrived. The same applies in many other parts of the world. Similarly, there is evidence that -- even today -- it often takes a very long time before plants follow when glaciers retreat, or the climate changes. In future, such disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities on Earth. This has been demonstrated by a new synthesis carried out by two researchers at Aarhus University -- Professor of Biology Jens-Christian Svenning and Assistant Professor Brody Sandel.
Professor Svenning explains: "In the climate debate, even researchers have had a tendency to overlook the fact that ecological dynamics can be slow. However, our forests take an extremely long time to adapt. For example, we still have a small amount of small-leaved lime in Denmark, which has held on since the warm period during the Bronze Age, i.e. about 3000 years. Perhaps it will now get another chance to spread when the summers once more get warmer. However, such expansion would take a long time, as lime is not a particularly fast-growing tree or particularly good at dispersing, even under optimum conditions. The climate will change considerably in the course of a single tree generation so we should not assume that the forest we're looking at in a given place is suitable for the climate. Future climate will constantly shift, which will increasingly result in these strange situations of disequilibrium."
Even fast spreaders such as some invasive exotic plants remain in disequilibrium for decades or centuries. Shown here is a Norway maple, a highly invasive tree species in North America that may nevertheless still take many decades to spread across even small landscapes.
…
We're causing so many changes to the climate, but at the same time nature is SO slow. Just think of a tree generation. Our entire culture is based on something that was, if not in complete equilibrium, then at least relatively predictable. We're used to a situation where flora, fauna and climate are reasonably well matched. In future, this equilibrium will shift on an ongoing basis, and there will be plenty of mismatches. That's what we'll have to work with."
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200469Contact: Jens-Christian Svenning
svenning@biology.au.dk
45-28-99-23-04
Aarhus University
[font size=5]Climate change: Diseqilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future[/font]
[font size=4]Global climate change will induce large changes to the plant communities on Earth[/font]
[font size=3]The forest we are used to looking at is not at all in equilibrium. Since the Ice Age, a number of plants have been 'missing' in Northern Europe, i.e. species that have not yet arrived. The same applies in many other parts of the world. Similarly, there is evidence that -- even today -- it often takes a very long time before plants follow when glaciers retreat, or the climate changes. In future, such disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities on Earth. This has been demonstrated by a new synthesis carried out by two researchers at Aarhus University -- Professor of Biology Jens-Christian Svenning and Assistant Professor Brody Sandel.
Professor Svenning explains: "In the climate debate, even researchers have had a tendency to overlook the fact that ecological dynamics can be slow. However, our forests take an extremely long time to adapt. For example, we still have a small amount of small-leaved lime in Denmark, which has held on since the warm period during the Bronze Age, i.e. about 3000 years. Perhaps it will now get another chance to spread when the summers once more get warmer. However, such expansion would take a long time, as lime is not a particularly fast-growing tree or particularly good at dispersing, even under optimum conditions. The climate will change considerably in the course of a single tree generation so we should not assume that the forest we're looking at in a given place is suitable for the climate. Future climate will constantly shift, which will increasingly result in these strange situations of disequilibrium."
Even fast spreaders such as some invasive exotic plants remain in disequilibrium for decades or centuries. Shown here is a Norway maple, a highly invasive tree species in North America that may nevertheless still take many decades to spread across even small landscapes.
…
We're causing so many changes to the climate, but at the same time nature is SO slow. Just think of a tree generation. Our entire culture is based on something that was, if not in complete equilibrium, then at least relatively predictable. We're used to a situation where flora, fauna and climate are reasonably well matched. In future, this equilibrium will shift on an ongoing basis, and there will be plenty of mismatches. That's what we'll have to work with."
…[/font][/font]
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
