Helping the climate survivors multiply and thrive, for a while at least

October 18, 2019 12:26 PM

On the north shore of Lake Tahoe, Patricia Maloney, a UC Davis forest and conservation biologist, hunts for these [climate] survivors. Most people focus on the dead trees, their brown pine needles obvious against the glittering blue of the lake. But Maloney tends not to notice them. "I look for the good," she says. "Like in people, you look for the good, not the bad. I do the same in forest systems." [...] "Evolution is a tool that we can bring to bear in helping us get through this future," says Steve Palumbi, a biology professor at Stanford University, who has been looking for coral that can handle heat. Boosting natural resilience: studying the trees that survived California drought and coral that withstand higher water temperatures, and then helping them propagate (NPR).

The animals that will survive climate change -- With one in every four species facing extinction, which animals are the best equipped to survive the climate crisis? (Spoiler alert: it’s probably not humans). (BBC x2)

posted by filthy light thief (5 comments total)

This is really cool as a positive adaptation idea.

We've had a sudden and quite severe drought here in the southeastern US, and I've noticed a lot of the boxwoods and English ivy are dying. They've been growing well here since the English introduced them hundreds of years ago, but now they can't handle it. Meanwhile, our native species are not thrilled but are sticking it out.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:43 PM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

This sounds like a great project. It's nice to get the occasional ray of hope these days.
posted by feersum endjinn at 4:49 PM on October 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Thanks, filthy light thief. Crews removed young, drought-stricken, dead-or-dying aspens here all last week. A bit of optimism is really welcome.
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:46 PM on October 18, 2019

Thanks too filthy light thief, another useful strategy. I've been reading and thinking a lot about cold spots\ climate refugia - species avoidance basically so it's good to see another angle.

I think the greatest species response we're going to starting to see is re CO₂.
posted by unearthed at 1:02 AM on October 19, 2019

At least in NC, we expect poison ivy to have one of the greatest growth responses to increasing CO₂ and also to produce more urushiol.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:25 AM on October 19, 2019 [3 favorites]