Major shift seen in mountain ecosystem from climate change

August 19, 2008

The speed with which the effects of climate change can be seen is impressive.  Researchers from UC Irvine recently conducted a study of the ecosystem in the Santa Rosa Mountains in Southern California.  This study revealed that over the past 30 years, 9 out of the 10 plant species analyzed migrated an average of 213 feet up the mountain. 

Basically, all mountainous plants have a range with which the harsh mountain environment will permit them to grow.  The study found that warmer and drier environmental conditions at the lower elevations became too inhospitable for the species to survive, thereby causing them to migrate upwards to cooler air.  The study also looked at fire suppression and air particulate pollution as possible influences, and ruled them out. 

This evidence of a rapid shift in ecosystems relating to our changing climate is another warning sign.  The earth’s climate has shifted in cycles for millions of years, but it is the rapid speed with which this current shift is occurring that should be raising the red flags.  It is one thing for a plant species to migrate so dramatically over a long-term period of hundreds or thousands of years, or even for it to do so rapidly as a result of a discrete event like a volcanic eruption.  But it is entirely different for it to move so dramatically over such a shot period of time, when there is no acute event.  The warning signs of a major shift in our climate continue to pile up.  We can either act now, or the climate can act upon us.  It is one thing for thousands of pine trees to have to migrate up a mountain, it is quite another when the migration is for millions of people.

Photo credit.

« Previous Post | Next Post »

Comments

Please contribute to the discussion by commenting below or posting in the forums. No need to agree with the post or other commenters, but please be constructive and respectful.