Close Menu
  • Last News
    • Cities
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Impact
    • Markets
    • Opinions
    • Policy
    • Reports
    • Research
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Trending
Illustration of Proxima Fusion's envisioned stellarator design for a commercial fusion power plant. Image generated by AI.
“Germany Goes Fusion-First”: Company Pushes Bold Plan to Build World’s First Operational Nuclear Fusion Power Plant
Illustration of light emerging from a quantum vacuum disturbed by powerful lasers. Image generated by AI.
“Light from Absolute Nothingness”: Scientists Achieve Historic First by Creating Photons in a Virtual Quantum Vacuum
Illustration of the unique patterns of human breath as a distinct identifier. Image generated by AI.
“Your Breath Is a Signature”: Scientists Reveal Human Breath Is as Unique and Traceable as a Fingerprint
Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Sustainability Times
Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Subscribe
  • Featured
  • Cities
    Illustration of Downtown Residences skyscraper in Dubai's Business Bay area. Image generated by AI.

    “Tallest Home in the Sky”: Dubai’s 1,500-Foot Residential Tower Set to Shatter Records and Completely Transform the Urban Skyline

    June 14, 2025 at 4:11 PM
    Illustration of Egypt's ambitious Jirian urban development project featuring an artificial Nile canal. Image generated by AI.

    “Egypt’s Visionary Project Unveiled”: Skyscrapers Rising Amidst the Desert and Beside the Pyramids as Revolutionary New City Takes Shape

    June 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
    Illustration of Saudi Arabia's futuristic Line project stretching across the desert. Image generated by AI.

    “Saudi Mega-Skyscraper Turns Deadly”: This 105-Mile Structure Threatens to Annihilate Migratory Birds on a Catastrophic Scale

    June 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
    Illustration of Archer Aviation's Midnight eVTOL air taxi flying over Los Angeles during the 2028 Olympics. Image generated by AI.

    Flying Over LA Gridlock: These American Air Taxis Promise a Spectacular Debut During the 2028 Olympic Games

    May 20, 2025 at 4:07 PM
    Illustration of the sinking urban landscape affecting major U.S. cities due to groundwater depletion (AI-generated, unrealistic). Credit: Ideogram.

    “America’s Cities Are Sinking Fast”: 28 Urban Giants Like New York and Houston Are Quietly Crumbling Beneath Our Feet

    May 13, 2025 at 7:00 AM
  • Climate
    Illustration of a revolutionary plastic dissolving in ocean water. Image generated by AI.

    “This Plastic Melts in the Ocean”: Japanese Scientists Reveal a Radical Material That Could Finally End the Global Pollution Crisis

    June 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
    Illustration of the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. Image generated by AI.

    “Ocean Acidification Is a Time Bomb”: This Silent Threat Is Accelerating Extinction and Pushing Earth Toward an Irreversible Collapse

    June 15, 2025 at 6:45 AM
    Illustration of rising global CO2 emissions and their impact on climate change. Image generated by AI.

    “Global CO₂ Emissions Surge Out of Control”: This Alarming Spike Signals a Dangerous New Phase in the Climate Crisis

    June 12, 2025 at 10:11 AM
    Illustration of the colossal landslide in Greenland's Dickson Fjord triggering a mega-tsunami. Image generated by AI.

    “Unprecedented Natural Disaster Strikes”: A 650-Foot Mega-Tsunami Sends Seismic Waves Circling the Globe

    June 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
    Illustration of the destabilizing effects of climate change on glaciers. Image generated by AI.

    “40% of Glaciers Vanishing Anyway”: This Chilling Climate Shock Exposes the Irreversible Collapse Already Underway

    June 9, 2025 at 6:49 AM
  • Energy
    Illustration of Proxima Fusion's envisioned stellarator design for a commercial fusion power plant. Image generated by AI.

    “Germany Goes Fusion-First”: Company Pushes Bold Plan to Build World’s First Operational Nuclear Fusion Power Plant

    June 20, 2025 at 9:55 AM
    Illustration of the Bugatti Tourbillon featuring a V16 hybrid engine. Image generated by AI.

    “1,800 Horsepower Unleashed”: Bugatti Tourbillon’s V16 Engine Screams to 9,000 RPM in Unprecedented Hypercar Debut

    June 19, 2025 at 4:52 PM
    Illustration of a revolutionary zinc-iodine battery technology for sustainable energy storage. Image generated by AI.

    “Still at 99.8%”: Revolutionary Zinc-Iodine Battery Holds Nearly Full Capacity After 500 Brutal Charge Cycles

    June 19, 2025 at 9:11 AM
    Illustration of Meta's partnership with XGS Energy to develop a 150-megawatt geothermal power plant. Image generated by AI.

    “Meta Goes Underground”: Tech Giant Joins U.S. Startup to Build 150-Megawatt Geothermal Powerhouse Deep Below Earth

    June 19, 2025 at 7:54 AM
    Illustration of the T3600 subsea trencher, the world's most powerful sea trencher designed to protect offshore infrastructure. Image generated by AI.

    “World’s Deepest Cable Burial”: This Monster Trencher Digs 18 Feet Beneath the Seabed to Power the Future

    June 19, 2025 at 7:10 AM
  • Impact
    Illustration of Creme Puff, the world's oldest cat, enjoying a unique lifestyle. Image generated by AI.

    “World’s Oldest Cat Drank Red Wine”: This Bizarre Feline Habit Stuns Vets and Redefines Everything We Thought About Animal Longevity

    June 15, 2025 at 6:11 AM
    Illustration of Builder.ai revealing its reliance on manual labor behind a facade of AI innovation. Image generated by AI.

    Shocking Revelation in Tech Industry: A 1.5 Billion Dollar ‘Fake AI’ Exposed With 700 Real-Time Coders Operating From India

    June 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
    Illustration of the shift from GPS to atomic clocks in aviation safety. Image generated by AI.

    End of GPS Era: The Secret Rise of Atomic Clocks Signals a Military-Grade Revolution in Global Positioning and National Security

    June 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
    Illustration of Jeff Bezos' megayacht Koru anchored offshore due to docking restrictions in Monaco. Image generated by AI.

    “Bezos Denied at Monaco”: The $500 Million Megayacht Forced Offshore as Billionaire Arrives by Dinghy in Stunning Humiliation

    June 7, 2025 at 6:46 AM
    Illustration of U.S. soldiers using augmented reality gear in a battlefield scenario. Image generated by AI.

    “Meta Is Redefining Warfare”: U.S. Army Adopts AR-AI Headset That Turns Soldiers Into Real-Time Combat Intelligence Hubs

    June 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
  • Markets
    Illustration of a colossal 55 billion-ton iron ore deposit discovery in Western Australia. Image generated by AI.

    Worldwide Panic as Monumental Geological Find Disrupts Global Trade and Triggers Market Turmoil on Every Continent

    June 4, 2025 at 4:53 PM

    Most sources of protein in the US contain vast quantities of microplastics

    January 11, 2024 at 5:47 AM

    Banking on change: How your accounts have climate impact

    December 26, 2023 at 7:13 PM

    Sparxell’s glitter is golden with nature-based color, design

    December 19, 2023 at 9:29 PM

    Lab-grown coffee tastes pretty darn good, scientists say

    December 12, 2023 at 10:42 PM
  • Opinions

    Smoke, Mirrors, and Smears: Inside the Campaign Against Gaurav Srivastava (Review)

    May 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM

    Nathan Law and the High Cost of Dissent: A Review of Targeted, Episode 3

    May 13, 2025 at 9:46 AM

    From charts to conversations: a real review of Hint App, The Pattern, and TimePassages

    May 13, 2025 at 5:12 AM

    Where Time Touches Light: Yefan Liu and the Future of Cultural Design

    April 18, 2025 at 3:39 AM
    “Ancient Predator Resurfaces: The Terrifying Epicyon, Massive Canid Beast With Bone-Crushing Jaws, Shakes Experts to Their Core”

    “He’s Back From Extinction”: The Gigantic Epicyon Returns With Bone-Crushing Jaws That Terrified Prehistoric America

    April 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
  • Policy
    Illustration of China's newly unveiled underground military command center near Beijing. Image generated by AI.

    “We Cannot Ignore This Threat”: China’s 1,000-Acre Military Megabase Revealed by Satellite Triggers US Intelligence Emergency

    June 8, 2025 at 5:53 PM
    Illustration of a Russian satellite maneuvering near a U.S. government satellite in space. Image generated by AI.

    “Russia’s Orbital Weapon Moves In”: US Military Reacts Urgently as Armed Satellite Approaches Critical American Asset in Alarming Encounter

    June 8, 2025 at 7:14 AM
    Illustration of China's expanding aircraft carrier fleet reshaping global naval dynamics. Image generated by AI.

    “U.S. Navy on High Alert”: China’s Fleet of 6 Supercarriers Triggers Global Tensions and Redefines Sea Power Balance

    June 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
    Illustration of SpinLaunch's centrifugal launch system deploying microsatellites into low-Earth orbit. Image generated by AI.

    “Hypersonic Madness in Orbit”: US Company Launches Pancake Probes at Relentless Speed, Triggering Chinese Military Alarm

    June 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
    Illustration of the AURA-E drone revolutionizing rural logistics in Australia. Image generated by AI.

    Unprecedented Aerial Gamble: This New Australian Drone Can Travel 310 Miles Carrying 110 Pounds Across Remote Outback

    June 2, 2025 at 7:53 AM
  • Reports
    Illustration of the SABRE South Collaboration’s experimental setup for detecting dark matter in the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (AI-generated, non-realistic illustration). Credit: Ideogram.

    “Scientists Stunned by Mysterious Light”: Bold Experiment Uses 4-Inch Glowing Crystal Core to Unveil Secrets of Elusive Dark Matter

    May 5, 2025 at 6:05 AM
    Illustration of a precision laser being fired from Earth to a satellite orbiting the Moon during daylight (AI-generated, non-realistic illustration). Credit: Ideogram.

    China Hits the Moon With a Laser: First Daylight Lunar Reflection in History Stuns Scientists and Ignites Global Space Race

    May 4, 2025 at 5:09 PM
    Illustration of the SR-72 hypersonic jet soaring through the sky (AI-generated, non-realistic illustration). Credit: Ideogram.

    “China Stunned by US Jet”: SR-72 Hypersonic Aircraft to Fly at Over Mach 5 in 2025, Triggering Shock and Panic in Beijing

    May 4, 2025 at 6:03 AM
    Illustration of China's expansive underground military command center near Beijing (AI-generated, non-realistic illustration). Credit: Ideogram.

    China Unveils Its Military Mega-Project: Satellite Images Reveal Construction of the Largest Military Hub on Earth Spanning Over 1,000 Acres

    May 3, 2025 at 6:54 AM
    Illustration of China's new amphibious anti-tank missile system on the ZTD-05 vehicle (AI-generated, non-realistic illustration). Credit: Ideogram.

    “China Unleashes Amphibious Beast”: This Armored Truck-Turned-Tank Can Now Hunt Enemy Targets Across Rivers and Swamps

    May 2, 2025 at 5:52 AM
  • Research
    Illustration of light emerging from a quantum vacuum disturbed by powerful lasers. Image generated by AI.

    “Light from Absolute Nothingness”: Scientists Achieve Historic First by Creating Photons in a Virtual Quantum Vacuum

    June 20, 2025 at 9:12 AM
    Illustration of the unique patterns of human breath as a distinct identifier. Image generated by AI.

    “Your Breath Is a Signature”: Scientists Reveal Human Breath Is as Unique and Traceable as a Fingerprint

    June 20, 2025 at 8:04 AM
    Illustration of the ANITA experiment's balloon detecting anomalous signals over Antarctica. Image generated by AI.

    “Physics Broken in Antarctica”: Mysterious Signal from Ice Baffles Scientists and Defies All Known Particle Laws

    June 20, 2025 at 7:08 AM
    Illustration of sea cucumbers on a tropical coral reef playing a potential role in cancer therapy. Image generated by AI.

    “Clot-Free Cancer Breakthrough”: Scientists Use Sea Cucumbers to Forge Next-Gen Therapies That Rewrite Treatment Norms

    June 20, 2025 at 6:11 AM
    Illustration of NASA's Gravity Imaging Radio Observer mapping an exoplanet's interior. Image generated by AI.

    “100x More Precise”: New NASA Probe Promises Unmatched Exoplanet Scans in Deep-Space Exploration Revolution

    June 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Sustainability Times

Climate change threatens spring wildflowers in the Northern Hemisphere

Hina DinooHina DinooMarch 17, 2023 at 12:56 AM0
Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Telegram WhatsApp Email Copy Link
Follow Us
Google News
Photo: Pixabay/Larisa-K
Share
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Copy Link

Photo: Pixabay/Larisa-K

For short-lived spring wildflowers such as wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia) and Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), timing is everything. These fleeting plants, known as ephemerals, grow in temperate forests around the world, leafing out and flowering early in spring before the trees towering above them leaf out. Emerge too early, and it will still be winter; emerge too late, and it will be too shady under the forest canopy for essential photosynthesis to happen.

Over their evolutionary history, these plants have figured out the best timing for their survival. But climate change is altering spring growing conditions, and plant life is changing along with it.

There are many examples of plants shifting flowering time in response to warming temperatures, such as cherry blossoms opening earlier and earlier each year.

However, when one part of an ecosystem shifts, will all the organisms that depend on it successfully shift too? Or will they be out of luck? And what if interconnected species respond to change at different rates, leading to disruptions in long-standing ecological relationships?

Researchers have been asking these types of questions about phenology – the timing of biological events – related to climate change for years. But most studies have focused on plant-animal interactions, like pollinators coming out at the wrong time for flowers.

Far fewer have analyzed plant-plant interactions, such as spring ephemerals that need time to grow before trees leaf out above them and block the sunlight.

Our research group has investigated the mismatch between understory wildflowers and canopy trees around Concord, Massachusetts, using historical observations recorded by Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Walden,” his classic account of life in the woods. We found that trees in Concord were more sensitive to spring temperatures than wildflowers were, and that this resulted in earlier tree leaf-out that reduced available light in the understory.

This finding was an important first step, but we wanted to know whether these patterns persisted in other temperate forests in North America and across the Northern Hemisphere. Our latest study shows that the answer is yes.

North American mismatches

For this research we used specimens from herbariums – collections of plants that have been pressed, dried and cataloged. The plants we examined were collected across eastern North America over the past 100 years. We evaluated over 3,000 pressed plant specimens to chart leafing-out time for trees and flowering time for spring wildflowers.

The vast scale of this study was made possible because herbaria have digitized millions of photographs of plant specimens and made them available online over the past decade. Before this resource existed, researchers had to travel to many museums scattered around the country.

Photo: Pixabay/JoshuaWoroniecki

Historical weather records are also available online now. This allows researchers to determine spring temperatures for the year and place where each specimen was collected.

Our new study enabled us to confirm the results of our work in Concord. We found that as temperatures warm, deciduous trees across eastern north America are advancing their leaf-out timing faster than native wildflowers are responding.

For example, during cooler springs with 24-hour average March and April temperatures of 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), trees leafed out 13 days after native wildflowers. This gave the flowers almost two weeks of full sun on the forest floor.

However, during warmer springs, with average temperatures of 58 F (15 C), trees leafed out only 10 days after native wildflowers. This gave the wildflowers about 25% less full sunlight time during which to photosynthesize.

As spring temperatures warm even further with climate change, we expect wildflowers will have even shorter periods of full sunlight. This can mean a sizable decrease in the flowers’ energy supply and ability to survive, grow and reproduce.

We also observed that trees and wildflowers in the warmer southern part of their ranges advanced their leaf-out and flowering times faster, respectively, than those in colder northern locations. In these zones, we found greater timing differences between trees and wildflowers.

This means the potential for phenological mismatch, where native wildflowers are more likely to be shaded out by trees, is greater in the southeast U.S. than in areas farther north.

Parallels and differences on other continents

For another recent study, we collaborated with colleagues from China and Germany to evaluate over 5,000 tree and wildflower specimens collected over the past 120 years. We wanted to see to whether the phenological mismatches that we documented in North America could also be found in temperate forests of East Asia and central Europe.

Our team found a common pattern across all three continents. Trees and wildflowers are active earlier now than in the past, and they are active earlier in warm years and places.

However, in a surprising twist, we didn’t see the North American pattern of trees being more sensitive than wildflowers on the other two continents. In Europe, wildflowers and canopy trees seemed to be shifting together over time. In Asia, the understory wildflowers were shifting more than the trees — meaning they might get more light, not less, in a warmer future.

The differences we found among the three regions were due primarily to variation in the sensitivities of the trees to temperature. Trees in eastern North America responded more strongly to temperature shifts, while Asian trees responded less strongly.

Informing forest management

Our results pose questions for further research. If spring temperatures aren’t the primary cues determining leaf-out and flowering times of trees and wildflowers in East Asia, what are those cues? How does the declining spring light window for wildflowers in eastern North America affect their energy budgets and ability to survive, grow and flower?

Another question is whether there are any practical management techniques, such as thinning overstory trees or removing invasive plants, that can help wildflowers deal with the ongoing challenges of climate change.

Such strategies could help people appreciate and conserve the full range of plants in the forests we depend on and cherish around the world.

This article was written by Richard B. Primack, a professor of biology at Boston University; Benjamin R. Lee, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at the University of Pittsburgh; and Tara K. Miller, a PhD candidate in biology at Boston University. It is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Did you like it? 4.3/5 (22)

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Biodiversity Forest
Follow on Google News Follow on X (Twitter)
Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram WhatsApp Email Copy Link
Previous Article‘Biofuels’ from discarded plastics pose health risks
Next Article Spiritual but not religious: How values connect on climate
Hina Dinoo
  • X (Twitter)

Hina Dinoo is a Toronto-based journalist at Sustainability Times, covering the intersection of science, economics, and environmental change. With a degree from Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Journalism, she translates complexity into clarity. Her work focuses on how systems — ecological, financial, and social — shape our sustainable future. Contact: [email protected]

Keep Reading
Illustration of the rediscovered Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna in the Indonesian rainforest. Image generated by AI.

“Lost for 62 Years Then Found Alive”: Ultra-Rare Egg-Laying Mammal Resurfaces in Remote Indonesian Rainforest Against All Odds

Illustration of a revolutionary plastic dissolving in ocean water. Image generated by AI.

“This Plastic Melts in the Ocean”: Japanese Scientists Reveal a Radical Material That Could Finally End the Global Pollution Crisis

Illustration of the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. Image generated by AI.

“Ocean Acidification Is a Time Bomb”: This Silent Threat Is Accelerating Extinction and Pushing Earth Toward an Irreversible Collapse

Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Trending
Illustration of Proxima Fusion's envisioned stellarator design for a commercial fusion power plant. Image generated by AI.
“Germany Goes Fusion-First”: Company Pushes Bold Plan to Build World’s First Operational Nuclear Fusion Power Plant
Illustration of light emerging from a quantum vacuum disturbed by powerful lasers. Image generated by AI.
“Light from Absolute Nothingness”: Scientists Achieve Historic First by Creating Photons in a Virtual Quantum Vacuum
Illustration of the unique patterns of human breath as a distinct identifier. Image generated by AI.
“Your Breath Is a Signature”: Scientists Reveal Human Breath Is as Unique and Traceable as a Fingerprint
News by category
  • Featured
  • Cities
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Impact
  • Markets
  • Opinions
  • Policy
  • Reports
  • Research
Information
  • About Us
  • Meet the Team
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Legal Mentions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

News, investigations, and analysis — our top stories every morning to start your day right.

Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
© Sustainability-Times.com. All rights reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.