In the years since 1880, global average temperature has been increasing in the range of 0.8degdegC, with significant changes in the distribution of rainfall. As the changing climate is upon us and expected to last, gardeners will be required to modify how they manage their gardens.
The climate is the main factor that decides what happens to animals and plants, as well as the “climate envelope” – a rapid shift in the environment causes wild animals and plants to adjust, migrate, or even die.
Gardeners also face changing conditions. If you take a look at the inside of a seed packet, there’s usually an image of the regions in which these plants thrive. With a rapid shift in climate, these areas are changing.
In the near future, we’ll need to be more careful about what we plant and where. It will be necessary to provide more up-to-date advice and information for gardeners.
The climate is changing
The changes in altitude have a significant impact on the temperature. When you climb an uphill, for every 100m of elevation you increase, the temperature decreases to the average value of 0.8degC.
Latitude changes obviously affect the temperature, too. It becomes colder as you travel towards the poles, and further farther away from the Equator. An exact guideline is hard to determine, due to the variety of interrelated and confounding variables. In general the shift of 300 km either north south, or north at sea levels corresponds to about 1 degree Celsius. A one-degree decrease in temperatures on average.
This means that because of the warming that has occurred over the last century, or that’s why Adelaide has now experienced the climate previously seen at Port Pirie, while Sydney’s weather is similar to the one that was previously observed about halfway between Coffs Harbour and Coffs Harbour. The difference in temperature corresponds to a shift northward of about 250 km or a dropping in altitude by 100 meters.
Based on the current trajectory of climate change, These shifts are expected to continue and increase.
The plants you have in your garden could require some changes.
Adaptation
They are already adapting their plants to the changing climate. We can observe this in the hopbush’s leaves narrowing as well as other plant species close its pores. They are all adaptations that adapt to cooler, dry climates.
There have been significant shifts in the distribution of both plant and animal communities over the last 50 years. Some of the most receptive species are insects that move small, such as butterflies. However, we have also observed shifts in plant communities.
However, while whole populations could be migratory or adjusting, plants that thrive in isolated environments such as fragmented bushes remnants or even gardens might not be able to do this. This issue is most severe for species that live long, such as trees, that germinated centuries ago in different climates. The conditions under which these ancient plants best adapted have drastically changed – an example of a “climate lag.”
Utilizing old trees to provide seeds to plant different plants that are in the region may lead to the development of unadapted plants. However, it’s not only established varieties that are at risk.
The industry of habitat restoration has acknowledged this issue. Numerous organizations involved in the restoration of habitats have altered their policy on seed sourcing to mix seeds from local sources with origins from further away locations. This brings new ways to adapt to future and present circumstances by implementing practices known as composite or climate-adjusted provenancing.
