A pan-European study published in Science shows that mountain plants across the continent are rising to greater topographic heights and crowding out summit plants
A pan-European study published in Science shows that mountain plants across the continent are rising to greater topographic heights and crowding out summit plants.
The phenomenon is manifested in the ascent of plants to the top of the mountains when plants from habitats that are lower topographically rise up the mountain. The research shows that the upward shift may cause a decrease in the variety of species.
The article is based on detailed surveys of 66 mountain peaks distributed from northern Europe to the Mediterranean in the south. An international research group, led by the Austrian Academy of Sciences of the University of Vienna, mapped all plant species in the study areas in 2001-2008 using standard procedures. The study was coordinated by Harald Pauli, Michael Gottfried, Stefan Dollinger and Georg Gerber.
An increase in the number of species is only found on the peaks of northern and central Europe. In contrast, the number of species remained unchanged or decreased in almost all sites in the Mediterranean region. Harald Pauli from the Global Research Initiative for Observation in the Alps (GLORIA), who coordinated the study, said: "Our results show a decrease in the number of species in the Mediterranean sites and this decrease is worrying because these are mountains where very unique types of plants grow and a large part of the species only appear there And nowhere else on earth."
"As for the increase in the number of plant species on the mountain peaks in Northern Europe, these are the species that are more common at low altitudes, and this will be competition for the rare, cold-loving plants living on the peaks." In contrast, the mountaintops in the Mediterranean area have patches of alpine habitats, like islands scattered across a sea of warmer lowlands. These areas are exposed to a dry season in summer. In the heights, moisture is kept from the snow that falls in winter and spring. The snowmelt water is essential for supplying water to the mountain plants during the dry season.
Harold Pauli added: "The loss of species was particularly noticeable on lower peaks, where the plants are likely to suffer from a lack of water earlier than those living on the high, snowy peaks. The warming of the climate and the decrease in precipitation in the Mediterranean region in recent decades is coordinated with the pattern of decrease in the number of species. In addition, a large part of the Mediterranean region is even expected to be dried up in the coming decades." (And there was someone who explained this simply because Rome will receive in about fifty years precipitation on the scale of Be'er Sheva today").
Georg Gerber, chairman of GLORIA, said: "The effects of climate change, whether through direct warming or in combination with increased drought pressure, may threaten alpine plants not only on the European continent, but also on a global level. A number of mountain plants may find alternative cold habitats somewhere in rocky mountain terrain. It is essential to monitor ongoing ecological effects on the variety of alpine plants."
to the information released by the researchers from the University of Vienna
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Is this about the missing transition links that were not found?
interesting. If so, there may be a lie that proves the extinction of the dinosaurs by a cloud of dust, which covered the earth from a meteor strike (if the ice has not melted since then).
Ice piles up at the poles during blizzards.
If a meteorite a million years ago fell at the pole, it would cause local melting due to the great heat that would be generated, sink deep into the ice, and if there were bacteria, they would be preserved until they were exposed by humans or melting snow.
Today, scientists drill in the ice in various places in the Pole and take out cylinders with a diameter of about 15 cm and a length of several meters. Analysis of the cylinders at different depths proves atmospheric events that occurred in the past such as volcanic eruptions, meteorites and the like.
Does anyone know how the ice is formed at the poles? Is it built in layers? Will bacteria or dust get stuck in the ice or will the process resemble a salt solution in water freezing into fresh water? Is there a way to find layers of dust in the ice that will testify to a meteor impact during the extinction period?
What wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was a meteor the size of a mountain, not bacteria.
Israeli,
Do you mean that there might be danger, or that the opportunity should be taken to explore the past?
Israeli is right. If you don't do something soon, we will become extinct again
Hello everyone
Have the scientists and doctors taken into account that there is something that needs to be clarified right now
When the glaciers melt quickly they hold secrets from the past
Air from millions of years ago and even bacteria that were preserved and are now being released into the air and even bacteria that we didn't know existed, maybe a bacteria that wiped out the entire dinosaur population.
It is necessary to investigate and lower a probe as one examines the structures of the atmosphere on a planet. It is necessary to understand and discover already now what the secret lies under all the glaciers.
Guy, I don't agree with you, there is a matter of international legislation here, such as the banning of the use of CFCs, freons of all kinds and the use of VOC volatile substances, and legislations such as REACH and ROHS and other directives, ISO 14001 standards and restrictions on the designs of electronic systems and the levels of maximum power allowed perform in the field of fuel and energy.
As soon as the state and the industry accept the obligation to implement the laws in order to sell or belong to the family of developed countries, then everything is possible
As long as you don't cut down and destroy by force, then this is a kind of evolution, and if the conditions change and we return to discovering "extinct" varieties, what will they say then?
For anyone who expects the world to change its ways regarding energy it simply won't happen until oil is too expensive or a cheaper solution is found.
The increase in carbon dioxide due to human use of industrial technologies that consume fossil products, in the atmosphere is a fact. At the same time, the eruption of a volcano in Italy, Iceland and others that were previously equivalent to changing the use of technology by man.
Of course, the education for green energy and the desire not to pollute the earth is very important both from a moral and practical point of view, and it is very important that humanity sets a goal to cut the levels of carbon pollution and, of course, other pollution such as plastic bags, toxic discharges into streams and industrial waste into landfills and landfills.
Attention global warming deniers: you have yet another target to attack
point
A somewhat technical answer to the possibility of "creating again" that you brought up.
Always, in my opinion, in the field of the genome and in general, science will always discover and refer to substances or particles or energies
that are composed of something else, similar to "foundation stones", it is like reconstructing a building and not knowing what the components are made of the building materials used to connect and glue the bricks.
Father, in a light spirit..
Differently than in the case law, in the search for that primary, fundamental particle, in the economy and in the management of the world,
It was discovered, its scientific name is "in" and its mass increases without limits, with infinite power. It is also known as interest.
to the point,
wow You turned science into a religion to which prayer is condescension.
Reminds me that already in the sixties they said that in 20 years all of humanity's energy will be fusion energy, so today we can do as much as we can.
And in particular, you have no idea what you're talking about. Today, science has no idea what most of the elements in the genome do and there is a very partial understanding of how ecosystems work. In particular, these are unimaginably complicated systems. Do you really think that in a few decades we can imitate the activities of billions of years of evolution?
Be humble, man will not be able to restore all the ecological niches that will disappear, with however sophisticated genetic engineering.
As for energy consumption, we should start building only alternative energy systems from now on so as not to increase emissions. So there will be enough for everyone. It's just that those who shout that we need to bring energy from everything nearby, coal, nuclear energy, etc., claim at the same time that the alternative energy is a joke, that is, they work for the interests of the existing oil gods instead of saying that we need energy, it doesn't matter what kind.
Reminds me of the outrage they do in the US on the Chevy Volt, just because it hurts the hearts of the Koch brothers who finance all the politicians in the Republican Party. Suddenly they ignore the fact that the car subsidy was a decision by President Bush a year before Obama was even elected], when no one knew who Obama was yet.
Avi,
With genetic engineering on the horizon, all those creatures living today are like a drop in the ocean of what science will be able to produce in a few decades. Extinction of one species or another is meaningless.
If you want to fight energy production, you have to do it directly. Claiming warming will not be of much use, except for a few conferences, demonstrations and political campaigns nothing significant will come of it.
Energy consumption per person is increasing, and the number of people is also increasing.