Taller plants moving into warmer Arctic

[Judi Lynn]

By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent
27 September 2018



ANNE D. BJORKMAN

Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic: Salix arctica is the dominant shrub species


The low-lying shrubs, grasses and other plants growing in the Arctic are getting taller.

The finding comes from scientists who have analysed three decades of measurements.

This data, gathered across Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia, indicates that a warming climate is driving the change.

The team of 180 researchers says the increase in height could ultimately work to push up temperatures further.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45652152

[Judi Lynn]

1. Something Unexpected Has Been Happening to Plants in The Arctic as It Gets Warmer

This delicate ecosystem is changing way too fast.

DAVID NIELD 28 SEP 2018

The plants of the Arctic, typically very low-lying shrubs, are getting taller as the region warms up because of climate change, new research has revealed. Existing plant species are growing in height and taller plants are moving into the neighbourhood too.

How that affects the delicate ecosystems and carbon cycles of the Arctic is yet to be confirmed, scientists say, though these changes are going to have to be closely watched. The shifts in the ecosystem have happened rapidly over the past 30 years.

Taller plants tend to trap more snow, which is one of the ways they could have an impact: the extra snow insulates the soil underneath, which then takes longer to freeze in winter, and could ultimately end up releasing more carbon. And these shifts in vegetation height aren't just happening in pockets.

"We found that the increase in height didn't happen in just a few sites, it was nearly everywhere across the tundra," says one of the researchers, Anne Bjorkman from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) in Germany.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/as-the-arctic-warms-its-plants-are-getting-taller