Genetic legacy of rare dwarf trees is widespread

Genetic evidence that one of Britain's native tree species, the dwarf birch found in the Scottish Highlands, was once common in England has been found by researchers. The genes reflect a much wider distribution occupied by the "wee tree" when the British climate was colder. "As dwarf birch moved north, some of its genes were picked up by downy birch trees, which spread through Britain at the cost of dwarf birch. The two species cross-pollinated in many parts of Britain after the last glacial maximum as the climate warmed and ice age glaciers melted away," they noted.

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