As Climate Destabilizes, Stronger Winds Speed Plant Species Dispersal - AFP

[hatrack]

As a result of stronger winds caused by global warming, seeds and pollen are being carried over longer distances. An increase in temperature of only a couple of degrees may increase the dispersal of plants in Northern forests and the spread of plant species into forest clearings after felling or forest fires.

University of Helsinki researcher Anna Kuparinen headed the international research into the impact of global warming on seed and pollen dispersal. The goal was to learn whether global warming would accelerate the dispersal of plant populations in forests. The research group utilised the micrometeorological data gathered over a decade at the Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station. Carried out mainly at the University of Potsdam in Germany, the research findings were published in Proceedings of the Royal Society.

Seed and pollen dispersal profoundly affects the dynamics and genetic variation of plant populations. Spreading into more favourable areas will help them survive in the warming climate. Wind conditions play a key role, as turbulent vertical streams, in particular, spread seeds very efficiently, even over long distances.

The researchers also discovered that a temperature that is only three degrees Celsius warmer increased the dispersal of seeds and the speed at which populations spread throughout the growth season. Particularly for those plants which have light seeds, the annual spreading speed increased dramatically, by approximately 30 meters.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Global_Warming_Increasing_The_Dispersal_Of_Flora_In_Northern_Forests_999.html

[kestrel91316]

1. I suppose this is good news of a sort.......

[NickB79]

2. I don't understand this. Global warming should REDUCE wind speeds

The temp. gradient from pole to equator is what drives winds and should decline, because the poles are warming much faster than the temperate and equatorial regions. They have already found evidence of slowing wind speeds here in the US: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/06/12/study-indicates-wind-speeds-are-slowing-in-the-us/ :wtf:

[The Croquist]

4. Agreed NickB79

I saw the same report as well. The AP version includes the paragraph:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090610/ap_on_sc/us_sci_diminishing_winds

Still, the study, which will be published in August in the peer-reviewed Journal of Geophysical Research, is preliminary. There are enough questions that even the authors say it's too early to know if this is a real trend or not. But it raises a new side effect of global warming that hasn't been looked into before.

It also claims that Gavin Schmidt and Michael Mann disagree with each other on this although they effectively counter that statement on Real Climate.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/06/winds-of-change/

[Nihil]

3. Well, it's a good job that no weeds have light seeds then ...

> Particularly for those plants which have light seeds, the annual
> spreading speed increased dramatically, by approximately 30 meters.

Oh ... wait ...