Authors

Source

Type

Peer Review

Audience

Pages

Notes

To address the global threat that climate change poses to plants, a radical ‘early warning system’ has been proposed by scientists at Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in a major new report entited ’Plants and Climate Change: Which Future".

BGCI’s Solution:

The solution proposed by BGCI is a groundbreaking international scientific effort to record and collate data on how plants around the world are currently affected by climate change, in order to predict the likely future effects of such changes on global plant populations. Such a project would not only accurately identify which species and geographic areas are most likely to be affected, but also be invaluable in planning how best to adapt current agricultural and horticultural practices to conserve these species and adapt to changing local climates. Using data gathered by this project, the early warning system could be used by agronomists to plan which species are most likely to be suited in areas most affected by climate change, decisions on whose accuracy could depend millions of lives. By identifying which wild plant populations are most likely to be affected by climate change, scientists can far more effectively target conservation efforts, projects that may result in the saving of the next most important medicinal drug, or a species that holds the key to breeding improved food crops.