6月7日,,記者從中科院西雙版納熱帶植物園獲悉,,為了解在氣候變化下,植物能否跟上氣候變化的腳步而生存下來(lái),,該園研究員Richard Corlett與澳大利亞聯(lián)邦科學(xué)與工業(yè)研究組織的David Westcott 教授合作,,發(fā)現(xiàn)地球上絕大多數(shù)植物很可能并不能緊隨氣候變化速度,但云南地區(qū)情況可能稍好,。該研究發(fā)表在《生態(tài)學(xué)與進(jìn)化趨勢(shì)》上,。
據(jù)悉,每一種植物對(duì)于氣候變化都有一個(gè)適應(yīng)或容忍范圍,,稱(chēng)為“氣候適應(yīng)區(qū)間”,。在這個(gè)區(qū)間內(nèi),植物可以生存,,否則很可能死去,。由于氣候變化,植物的這個(gè)適應(yīng)區(qū)間在地球表面不斷移動(dòng),,為了能一直待在這個(gè)適應(yīng)區(qū)間內(nèi),,植物也必須隨之移動(dòng),。
通過(guò)比較各種植物自身具有的遷移速度及其為適應(yīng)下一個(gè)世紀(jì)氣候變化具備的遷移速度,研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),,與動(dòng)物不同,,植物在每個(gè)世代僅能通過(guò)種子散布的方式進(jìn)行一次遷移行動(dòng)。
研究人員評(píng)估后發(fā)現(xiàn),,大多數(shù)植物每年的遷移距離小于1千米,,而很多其他植物移動(dòng)的距離則更短。同時(shí),,研究還發(fā)現(xiàn),,由于云南存在顯著的氣候梯度,植物很可能通過(guò)遷移較短的距離而到達(dá)適應(yīng)區(qū)域,,即使是遷移較慢的植物也能找到適宜區(qū)域而存活下來(lái),,這對(duì)云南地區(qū)來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)好消息。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦英文摘要:
Trends in Ecology & Evolution DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2013.04.003
Will plant movements keep up with climate change,?
Richard T. Corlett1, , David A. Westcott2
In the face of anthropogenic climate change, species must acclimate, adapt, move, or die. Although some species are moving already, their ability to keep up with the faster changes expected in the future is unclear. ‘Migration lag’ is a particular concern with plants, because it could threaten both biodiversity and carbon storage. Plant movements are not realistically represented in models currently used to predict future vegetation and carbon-cycle feedbacks, so there is an urgent need to understand how much of a problem failure to track climate change is likely to be. Therefore, in this review, we compare how fast plants need to move with how fast they can move; that is, the velocity of climate change with the velocity of plant movement.