Researchers at UC Santa Cruz are contributing new insights into the challenges plants face in adapting to climate change. Prior research has long anticipated that plants might be able to respond to increasing temperatures by changing their phenology-;or the timing of seasonal life processes-;at a rate that matches the rate of climate change.
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Not far from the UC Santa Cruz campus is a 40 acre forest plot. Students have been counting seeds and measuring trees on this plot for more than a decade. That data has been used in a new study that aims to understand what our forests will look like in generations to come. And the findings suggest that change is on the horizon.
A short walk away from the roadway and into the UCSC Campus Natural Reserve; along a slim and recently rain soaked dirt path; passing Redwoods, Douglas Firs and Pacific Madrones; Gregory Gilbert finds what he’s been looking for… a seed trap.