Tropical plants closer to the equator are most at risk from climate change because it is expected to become too hot for many species to germinate in the next 50 years, UNSW researchers have found.
Tropical plants closer to the equator are most at risk from climate change because it is expected to become too hot for many species to germinate in the next 50 years, UNSW researchers have found.
Their study analysed almost 10,000 records for more than 1300 species from the Kew Gardens’ global seed germination database.
The research, published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography last month, was the first to look at the big picture impact of climate change on such a large number of plant species worldwide.
Lead author Alex Sentinella, UNSW PhD researcher, said past research had found that animal species closer to the equator would be more at risk from climate change.
“The thought was that because tropical species come from a stable climate where it’s always warm, they can only cope with a narrow range of temperatures – whereas species from higher latitudes can cope with a larger range of temperatures because they come from places where the weather varies widely,” Mr Sentinella said.
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