Plants and climate change Flashcards
which factor impact plants
- increased carbon dioxyde levels in atmosphere
- increased global average temperature
- increased frequency of extreme weather events
what is CO2 fertilization effect theory
- increased CO2 = increased photosynthesis
- increased photosynthesis= increased energy
- increased energy = increased growth
what is FACE system
forests converted into carbon dioxyde chambers to test CO2 fertilization effects in real ecosystems
CO2 fertlization affects annual and perennial plants how
increase in productivity
what is the junk food effect
increased CO2 causes plants to produce more sugars and less of everything else
what type of plant is most affected by junk food effect
c3 plants
how does increase in temp affect plants
most have growth stages in a specific temperature range
what are climate shifts
migrations: plant communities shifted over thousands of km
what happens to sky islands
plants in high altitude wont be able to migrate and will disappear
what happens to plants who cant shift climate ranges
extreme heat will interfere with plant growth and reproductivity
what are short term extreme weather events
floods
storms
hurricanes
early/late frost
what are extended extreme weather events
droughts
extended rainy seasons
extreme winter
what is the worst extreme weather and why
drought
most crops in the world are rainfed
what happens to crops with increased temperatures
risk of crop failure gets higher
what are the consequences of extreme weather
- restrict plant migrations
- extinctions of small populations
- increase in frequency of severe storms
