Jul 9, 2024 09:57 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1050798
INTRO: During his recent yearlong sabbatical, Daniel Laughlin led a study that found trees can sustain life in temperatures higher or lower than where they are currently growing. While tree species appear to prefer distinct climatic conditions, the true nature of these preferences is obscured by species interactions and dispersal, which limit tree species’ ranges.
“We were amazed. The result was crystal clear, and that doesn’t always happen in ecology,” says Laughlin, a professor in the University of Wyoming Department of Botany. “We found that tree species could grow and survive at one common moderate temperature, even though many species are only found in either cold or warm environments. In fact, many trees could expand their ranges by more than 25 percent based on their potential temperature tolerances.”
Laughlin is lead author of a paper titled “Trees have overlapping potential niches that extend beyond their realized niches” that was published in Science, a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that publishes important original scientific research... (MORE - details, no ads)
INTRO: During his recent yearlong sabbatical, Daniel Laughlin led a study that found trees can sustain life in temperatures higher or lower than where they are currently growing. While tree species appear to prefer distinct climatic conditions, the true nature of these preferences is obscured by species interactions and dispersal, which limit tree species’ ranges.
“We were amazed. The result was crystal clear, and that doesn’t always happen in ecology,” says Laughlin, a professor in the University of Wyoming Department of Botany. “We found that tree species could grow and survive at one common moderate temperature, even though many species are only found in either cold or warm environments. In fact, many trees could expand their ranges by more than 25 percent based on their potential temperature tolerances.”
Laughlin is lead author of a paper titled “Trees have overlapping potential niches that extend beyond their realized niches” that was published in Science, a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that publishes important original scientific research... (MORE - details, no ads)