Earth Equity News

Climate Change Could Severely Impact California's Endemic Plants. By Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley Press Release, June 24, 2008. "The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these 'endemics' could suffer more than an 80% reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Because endemic species -- native species not found outside the state -- make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity... 'Our study projects that climate change will profoundly impact the future of the native flora in California,' said David Ackerly, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology. 'The magnitude and speed of climate change today is greater than during past glacial periods, and plants are in danger of getting killed off before they can adjust their distributions to keep pace.'"