Scientists are currently studying the possibility that, as plant migrate in this way over time, entire ecosystems may also need to migrate.
Plants can’t flee when things get bad because they are rooted to the ground, unlike animals, which can. When a changing climate renders some areas less suitable, this can present significant difficulties. However, plants migration take place, while individual plants cannot.
They accomplish this by dispersing their seeds in an effort to have some of them fall on hospitable ground. Additionally, scientists are currently studying the possibility that, as plants migrate in this way over time, entire ecosystems may also need to migrate.
According to Jenny McGuire, an assistant professor at the Schools of Biological Sciences and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech in the United States who co-authored a study on examining how and why plants moved over geographic time in North America and where they are headed, “Plants are shifting their geographic ranges, and this is happening whether we realise it or not.”
According to McGuire, the likelihood that a plant’s seed will be able to survive and grow changes as it falls or is transported to far-off locations. “Understanding how species adapt to climate change and learning how to preserve biodiversity in the face of future rapid climate change can be learned from studying the niche dynamics of plants over thousands of years.”
If a plant exhibits “climate fidelity,” it will stick to its preferred climatic niche, even if it means migrating over vast distances over a long period of time. According to McGuire, plants without this characteristic prefer to locally adapt to climatic change.
Together with a colleague, the scientist examined data of plants migration from more than 13,000 fossil pollen samples collected from 337 different locations across North America.
They divided the pollen data into six distinct 4,000-year time periods, beginning 18,000 years ago. Their goal was to determine how the climatic conditions for each species of tree had changed over time, from one era to the next.
According to Yue Wang, an associate professor at Sun Yat-sen University in China who collaborated with McGuire, “this process allowed us to see the climate fidelity of these different plant taxa, showing that certain plants maintain very consistent climatic niches, even when climate is changing rapidly.”
For instance, spruce and alder trees plant migrate northward to maintain the cool temperatures of their habitats as North America’s glaciers retreated 18,000 years ago.
In fact, Wang claims that over the past 18,000 years, the majority of plant species in North America have demonstrated a tendency for climate fidelity. But some species have a natural advantage over others when it comes to migration.
For example, willows can move farther and faster over a short period of time thanks to their tiny seeds’ long-distance airborne persistence. But ash trees’ large seeds can only be dispersed over short distances, which makes it difficult for the trees to move in lockstep with shifting temperatures.
“Ash tree establishment in new areas may be hampered even further by human-caused habitat disruptions. Ash trees’ seeds are forced to travel further if there are no nearby habitats, which poses a particular problem for them and further slows their migration “The researchers note their findings in a statement.
The experts say that a better comprehension of plants migration may allow us to modify our conservation efforts. Although it is a novel concept, McGuire believes that understanding climate fidelity will be crucial in the future, particularly when considering how to protect various plants in the face of climate change.
It’s crucial to be able to recognise which plants and animals are more susceptible to climate change because this knowledge can be used to develop more effective protection plans for the planet’s biodiversity.