Plants in the Arctic are growing taller because of climate change, according to research from a global scientific collaboration.
Plants in the Arctic are growing taller because of climate change, according to research from a global scientific collaboration.
While the region is usually thought of as a vast, desolate landscape of ice, it is in fact home to hundreds of species of low-lying shrubs, grasses and other plants that play a critical role in carbon cycling and energy balance.
Now, a team of experts led by the University of Edinburgh has discovered that the effects of climate change are behind an increase in plant height across the tundra over the past 30 years.
Species spread
As well as the Arctic’s native plants growing in stature, in the southern reaches of the Arctic taller species of plants are spreading across the tundra.
Vernal sweetgrass, which is common in lowland Europe, has now moved in to sites in Iceland and Sweden.
Read more at University of Edinburgh
Image: Plants in the Arctic tundra are growing taller because of climate change, according to new research from a global collaboration led by the University of Edinburgh. (Credit: Anne D Bjorkman)
