American Bellflowers are members of the campanula plant family. There are over 500 species throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere. They also thrive in the tropical mountains of Africa and Asia. They are thus a good vehicle for understanding how plants adapt to climate change.
How American Bellflowers Responded to The Last Warming
University of Virginia scientists have traced how the plant responded to the warming at the close of the last ice age. Laura Galloway, a professor of biology and co-author of the study says the campanula plant makes an ideal subject.
“That’s because it expanded its range when the climate last warmed and glaciers retreated” explains the co-author of the study. However this was a two-edged sword. It was easier for plants to reproduce although their success rate reduced. Moreover, there were patterns of mutations in the U.S. where populations were small. Curiously, the American Bellflowers that migrated farthest across the earth developed the ability to self-fertilize.
This Draws Attention to the Potential Legacies of Climate Change
“These combined changes … provide strong evidence the absence of mates enables plants to adapt to new environments. At the same time this reduces overall vigor,” the study leader says. “This draws attention to the potential legacies of climate change.”
Biologists think individual species will adapt, die or migrate in response to climate change, Laura Galloway adds. However, our study shows there also are inherent perils of expansion, such as mutations and a shallow gene pool.
“Some individuals are better able to reproduce in the small populations expected in new habitats. But this may also cause genetic change that limits their ability to survive in the long term.”
Nobody knows whether this finding will apply to the generations of humans that follow on after us. Our descendants shall have to wait and see.
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Preview Image: American Wildflower (University of Virginia)
