BIOD - Impact of climate change Flashcards
- Briefly describe what is meant by ‘resilience’ in thinking
about selecting plants for climate change
Resilience refers to the ability of a plant to survive extremes: heat, cold,
drought, and to survive from year to year.
- Name and briefly discuss THREE impacts of climate
change that will negatively impact plant life in gardens.
Increased heat will damage some plants or make it difficult for them to grow.
Fire will be an increased risk in summer.
There will be different pests and diseases affecting garden plants.
Extreme weather events such as heavy rain, storms, hail. * There will continue to be high year on year variability in rainfall.
Pests and diseases that thrive in the warmer/wetter/drier conditions.
longer breeding seasons.
Drought and other factors that increase stress will result
in a greater susceptibility to fungal and bacterial pathogens; humidity in
particular will increase susceptibility to fungal problems.
Invasive species due to warmer climate: Mimosa (Cortaderia
selloana) could become a problem in the UK
- Why does knowing where a plant comes from, help us
with plant selection for a more climate change resilient
garden?
Knowing that a plant comes from a region with a climate zone which
experiences extremes of temperature would be very useful. On the contrary,
being aware of species which come from places that do not generally get
extremes should perhaps warn us about too reliant on them in gardens.
Name THREE common garden vegetable crops and how
they might impacted by climate change?
Potatoes – it may be possible to start growing them earlier in the year,
although they may be more likely to be hit by frost; heat and drought will
bring forward the dates when they might need irrigation.
Cabbages – they will be more likely to be able to kept in active growth in the
winter, but will be more likely to need summer irrigation.
Carrots – autumn sowing might begin to make sense if the winter is mild
enough for them to grow for several months. However in the spring they will bolt, so they will have to be harvested before this.
- What is meant by phenology? And how might the
phenology of garden plants be affected by climate
change? What other impacts might there be?
Phenology is the description and study of when plants grow and develop through the year – the date
of leaf opening, flowering, end of year die-back, etc.
With a warmer climate, many species will come into leaf and flower earlier.
This may mean that they get out of step with pollinators. It may also mean that they are more at risk from late frosts.
- In planning for climate change it is very important to think about gardens, parks and other planted spaces around where you live. What might have to change?
Imagine you have to make some proposals to gardening
colleagues about existing garden or park plantings or
features which may no longer be realistic, or even possibly
damaging.
Make a list of them, with possible alternatives
that will cope better with a changing climate or will help
with mitigating climate change.
Trees: species like Betlua spp. (Birches ) do best in cold climates
-> Might need to be replaced with more heat tolerant species
How much open space is there:
warmer summer mean that both plants and people want more shade
-> heat resistant shade giving trees: (Platanus spp) Planes
-> Amelanchier species are tolerant of wet soils and cope with dry summers. Smaller and more compact, can deal better with high winds
SHRUB:
-> An excellent example of the ‘perfect’ plant is
strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), evergreen, attractive, drought-tolerant, not
particularly flammable and capable of rapid regeneration from the base if
damaged or burnt.
> shows good recovery from damage and hard pruning.
Boarders with thirstier perennials (often large, lush, soft leaves) may have to change
> more drought tolerant sub shrubbs
How vulnerable to fire are plants:
recognising species that are fire prone will be important and limiting their use.
Plenty of deciduous trees will help reduce fire risks.
Drier summers may mean reduced flowering at this time. avoid flower heavy bedding schemes and replace with perennials and shrubs with active foliage instead which are more likely to flower in dry conditions
-> Lavandula angustifolia
Water Management and Rain Gardens
More sudden bursts of heavy rain will increase the likelihood of flooding from hard landscaped areas
Rain gardens and swales
Water management
A swale is a shallow, typically linear depression in the landscape designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration. Swales are often used in sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) and are integral to low-impact development (LID) practices. They can be natural or man-made and are usually vegetated to enhance their water management capabilities and ecological benefits. Swales help prevent flooding, reduce erosion, and support groundwater recharge by slowing down and dispersing water flow.
Plants: Iris pseudacorus and
Cornus sanguinea and Sambucus nigra cultivars
Woody plants can help to manage water - roots can take up large volume of water from the soil.
Planting of robust street trees such as Gingko bilboa small leaves help to manage runoff. small leaves are more effective at the interception of rainfall.
Green roofs with a good depth of substrate (10cms min.) will help to
mitigate the impact of periods of heavy rainfall in urban areas.
What does provenance mean
looking at where plants come from.
Helpful to understand where plants come from and what extremes they have to deal with. using this as a reference
e.g. Salvia yangii (russian sage)
Trees and climate change
The more trees we plant, the more carbon that can be sequestered. Mass tree planting has
been suggested as perhaps the best and possibly the only technology for removing
substantial quantities of carbon that are already in the atmosphere.
Implications of climate change for Planting
Especially important in urban areas:
s resilience
– selecting plants that will cope with many different extremes.
genetic diversity, so that there will be a mixture of vulnerability to novel diseases.
Water use, the sustainable use of water, is going to be vitally important.
Thinking back to
previous lessons about how plants can be used in sustainable drainage systems and in
green roofs, plants and plant communities can play an enormously important role in
management of water and conservation of water resources.
