Climate Change Says Goodbye to Woodlands' Biodiversity

Scientists warned us about the impact global warming will have upon forests all across the globe. They stated before that increasing temperatures would make us forget about biodiversity, since several species of trees would “migrate” towards cooler areas while others would simply go extinct.

A recent study analyzing the natural mortality in woodlands located in Oregon State reached the conclusion that climate change is the main factor which disrupts the natural balance of tree population. The phenomenon counts on the unconditional help of insects and drought.

“Some of these changes are already happening, pretty fast and in some huge areas.In some cases the mechanism of change is fire or insect attack, in others it's simply drought,” affirmed Richard Waring, a professor from Oregon State University and lead author of the study.

It seems that several species will be permanently replaced by their more competitive and adaptable relatives. This appears to be the case of lodgepole pine which will most likely disappear in favor of the ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir.

Experts say that increasing temperatures generated a powerful competition in forests worldwide, for each fresh breath of CO2 and every single drop of water.

While talking about the Californian woodland, researchers say that half of the members which make biodiversity relevant in that area will not make it in the near future, if the temperature growth continues.

The locations will be the habitat of the species which will turn out to be the less demanding candidate in facing natural, unfriendly factors such as temperature, precipitation and drought.

Among the latest findings, experts discovered that the most affected locations are displayed in both northern and southern extreme territories, such as British Columbia, Alberta, and California.

Furthermore, they reached the conclusion that many tree species experienced a significant decrease in their competitiveness, after analyzing the potential of six eco-regions exposed to increasing temperatures.