PLANTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

I have been reading the book “The Weather Makers” by Tim Flannery which goes into great detail about the effects that accelerating climate change (global warming) will have on plants and animals all around the world. I had some knowledge of the changes that were to be expected from my scientific training (a BSc (Biology) from Macquarie Uni). The book has been well researched and presented, and what I have read has caused me great concern for the survival of many plants as global warming proceeds, and motivated me to write to you to present an important idea.

As global temperatures rise plants will find that they are growing more and more at the extremes of their “comfort zones” so to speak, and will find it increasingly difficult to survive in their current localities. However, due to human land use practices, very few plant species will be able to migrate north or south so as to be able to find suitable growing conditions. If nothing is done then a huge number of species will become endangered or extinct. Since we (humans) have created the problem, then we will have to do something to help the plants out in reaching more suitable areas for the new changed conditions.

This means that we will have to actively intervene in the process and help the plants establish in areas where they can not get to by natural means, and in the very short time span involved with rapid climate change (decades not millennia). For example, there is no way that a rainforest plant can migrate across a hundred miles of wheat fields to reach another area where conditions might be suitable. However if we gather seeds, take cuttings, tissue culture the species (like was done with the Wollemi Pine), and then find areas where they will be able to survive and plant them there, then we will have greatly increased the species chances of survival. All of the eggs will not be in one basket so to speak.

This will mean planting endangered species in peoples gardens, in public parks, in reserves and forest areas, in fact anywhere where it will have a good chance of survival. I know that purists will say that such plants are not natural to the area (at present) and would be “weed species”. However we have changed the environment so much and so rapidly that the concept of “natural to an area” is no longer a valid concept. Survival of species is much more important than “political correctness” in a botanical sense. And this all needs to happen for a vast number of threatened species all around the planet. If we wait too long to act the species will become extinct before we can gather the seeds, cuttings and tissue cultures to ensure their survival.

Therefore, I have written to you to express this idea of active intervention to help the plant kingdom. In your roles as media presenters of matters relating to plants you have the ability to get this idea out to all the gardeners and plant lovers out there. If you think the idea a good one and you have contacts overseas, then this idea needs to be disseminated to as many as will listen, because the problem is world wide.

If you have not already read the book mentioned, I would highly recommend reading it to get an idea of the scale of the problem and the need for urgent action.

-Michael