Biotech Updates

Climate Change Shifts Plant Distribution

August 22, 2008

A survey made considering ten dominant plant species in the Deep Canyon region in Southern California's Santa Rosa mountains revealed that in a span of 30 years, the distribution of these plant species have shifted upward by 65 meters. Researchers at the University of California and California State University attribute the shift to changes in climate including increase in average temperature and variability in rainfall, and reduction of snow precipitation from 1977 to present.

The study was conducted by Anne Kelly and Michael Goulden who resurveyed the Deep Canyon Transect area spanning several plant communities and climates.  The transect rises from about 250 meters to 2,500 meters on over 16 km and was the same transect and area where the 1977 survey of another researcher was conducted. They stated that the phenomenon they observed may also be happening elsewhere and cautioned that this rapid shift in the distribution of plants and vegetation are hastened by global climate change.

For the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), please visit http://www.pnas.org/content/105/33/11823.full