Plants flee climate change

Over the past century, many US plants have moved hundreds of kilometers to the north due to the inconvenience of temperature rise caused by the greenhouse effect.

The US Forest Protection Agency said that, at that rate, precious wood trees in the US such as gold birch could reach the northern Canadian border before 2100. The agency's scientists have just published a study for 40 important tree species in more than 30 eastern states of the United States have moved north.

Many studies on the migration of plants have been carried out based on computer simulations, so there are still doubts about their accuracy. However, in this study, scientists investigated the distribution of seeds and trees in each latitude based on the latest data from the US Forest Protection Agency.

Chris Woodall, the lead researcher, said that the finding once again confirms the link between climate change and forest movements. 'It is no longer a guess, but a proven fact , ' he said.

Chris and colleagues studied data on 15 species of plants in northern America, 15 species in the south and 10 species in both regions. They studied the density of seed distribution, trees under 20 years old and trees over 20 years old at each latitude and compared data with each other.

Results showed that 11 out of 15 species in the north moved more than 20 km (on average) compared to their old latitudes. Among the 'progressive' species, there are white cedar, chunks, likes, black ash, ferns and yellow birch. The stems and like to move the farthest (about 50 km).

'This is the first time the movement of many plants in a large geographic area has been seriously studied. The most significant thing is that it has shown the role of climate change on the migration of plants , 'said Mark Schwartz, a biologist at the University of California (USA). Mark did not join Chris's research group.

The ability of a species to migrate depends on many factors. For example, the fruit of the cedar tree is the favorite food of the beetle. Therefore, in places where there are many beaks, cedar fruits cannot spread far. Meanwhile, the seeds of poplar trees, like, frequency are light enough to fly with the wind.

The ultra-high mobility of the grain allows some species to 'advance' at a faster rate than expected by the US Forest Protection Agency. 'Northern Pennsylvania and southern New York state are places that have favorable conditions for the development of white ash. They are ingredients for producing baseball sticks. So many people in those two states will be sad if they migrate north, 'said Dan Botkin, an ecological expert at the University of California (USA).