Climate Change Could Severely Impact California's Unique Native Plants
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 07:14
in Paleontology & Archaeology
California's endemic plants -- those found nowhere else in the world -- could disappear from their natural ranges as a result of global warming and associated changes in rainfall, according to a new study. In general, plants will move northward and towards the coast, and in southern California, upward into mountain refugia, highlighting the need to protect these refugia and corridors between them. One big question remains: Can plants migrate fast enough to escape warming's effects?