Climate change making plants go daff
SPRING is springing earlier than ever say scientists, with climate change thought to be the reason plants are flowering a month sooner on average.
It is feared it could cause some plant and wildlife species to collapse.
Researchers analysed more than 400,000 sightings of 406 species, with records going back to the 18th century.
The team, led by Cambridge
University, identified that the average first flowering date from 1987 to 2019 was a month before the average first flowering date from 1753 to 1986.
This coincides with the acceleration of global warming caused by humans.
Professor Ulf Buntgen said: “The results are truly alarming. When plants flower too early, a late frost can kill them. But the even bigger risk is ecological mismatch. Plants, insects, birds and other wildlife have co-evolved to a point they are synchronised.
“If one component responds faster than the others, there’s a risk that can lead species to collapse.”
The dataset, Nature’s Calendar, is maintained by the Woodland Trust and includes species such as English oak, wild daffodil and horse chestnut.