As Temperatures Rise, Plants and Trees are Migrating Higher

A study of the distribution of plants and trees in six Western European mountain ranges has shown that most species have migrated upward an average of 29 meters per decade in the past 100 years as temperatures have warmed. Published in the journal Science, the study, led by French forest ecologist Jonathan Lenoir, is one of the most exhaustive surveys yet published showing how plant species will move to higher elevations in an effort to maintain an optimal habitat in a warming world. Using data and surveys from as far back as 1905, the study examined 171 species in six mountain ranges, including the Alps and the Pyrenees, and showed that two-thirds had shifted their ranges upward. Grass species were able to move to higher elevations faster than trees, which grow more slowly. The Lenoir study comes on the heels of a U.S. study this week showing that warmer temperatures and reduced rainfall will force many plant species in California to either shift their ranges to higher elevations and latitudes or go extinct.