New research from the University of Guelph is dispelling a commonly held assumption about climate change and its impact on forests in Canada and abroad.
It’s long been thought that climate change is enabling treelines to march farther uphill and northward. But it turns out that climate warming-induced advances may be halted by unsuitable soils.
It is an important finding for resource managers looking to preserve individual species or entire ecosystems.
“There’s a common belief about the impacts of climate change,” said U of G researcher Emma Davis. “It’s actually a more complicated story than people believe.”
Her studies are the first in southwestern Canada to test how factors such as soil properties may affect treeline advance.
Read more at University of Guelph
Image: This is a University of Guelph researcher conducting field work on the Canadian Rockies. (Credit: University of Guelph)