The trees that are most affected by climate change

The study of climate change ecologists has detailed how plants in the US will have the hardest time to adapt when the world warms up.

Patrick Jantz, a member of the research team from the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), said: "There are not many forests in the eastern United States, perhaps only a few percent. Young forests, newly planted forests have coins. the direction is less complicated in structure and there are many different species ".

The United States opposed the transition by setting up a land fund for national parks. This can protect the lands from human destruction on the physical level but does not protect the forests from global climate change.

Chart the change of plants in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.(Photo: WHRC).

Recognizing this problem, the team used climate modeling to predict what would happen to tree populations in different parks in the Appalachian region of the United States.

The team focused specifically on the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Pennsylvania and New Jersey), Shenandoah National Park (Virginia), Great Smoky Mountain National Park (North Carolina and Tennessee). Although these results are not applicable everywhere, the team provided some useful comments about which species will thrive and which species will struggle to survive.

To find out how these areas will change in the future, researchers used a combination of climate models. They assume that carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase at the current level, from 400 parts per million to 1370 parts per million by 2100. After testing, they found that if this happens the temperature will increase to 0.4 degrees. C every decade until 2040 and then increase to 0.7 degrees C after 2040. Therefore, the length of each growing season for the species will be longer, the winters shorter and warmer lead to less frost and rainfall may also decrease.

When performing super-speed calculations of the numbers, the team drew a diagram showing how climate conditions will change the 40 existing tree species in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Species like eastern poison, red maple , and eastern parts which are cool and humid will be difficult to survive when the climate is hotter and drier. On the other hand, some plants grow well like star oak, red pecans and blackjack oak due to the hot, dry climate.

Climate change can erase some plants.

Climate change can erase some plants , causing plants to fail to produce seeds or simply their seeds cannot germinate. Moreover, plants are not able to move to other lands when foreign elements enter.

Brendan Rogers, a member of the research team, said: "If only looking at the suitability of land, most plants still live well. But the climate changes too quickly, seeds cannot be dispersed and fixed in regions. "Land fragmentation causes plants to fail to produce seeds or germinate. Some areas may be good for plant growth but plants cannot move on their own unless managed by humans."

This study will be published in the book entitled "Climate Change in Wildlands: Pioneering Approaches to Science and Management" , hoping that with the findings and strategies set out, it could help the government to conserve nearby plants. close to us.