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IMAGE: Unlike daily weather, global prevailing wind patterns are believed to be relatively stable over millennial timescales. A new study finds that these wind currents have helped shape genetic diversity in...
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Credit: Matthew Kling, UC Berkeley
Berkeley -- Forests' ability to survive and adapt to the disruptions wrought by climate change may depend, in part, on the eddies and swirls of global wind currents, suggests a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Unlike animals, the trees that make up our planet's forests can't uproot and find new terrain if conditions get tough. Instead, many trees produce seeds and pollen that are designed to be carried away by the wind, an adaptation that helps them colonize new territories and maximize how far they can spread their genes.