Seeds offer a level of resilience to the harmful effects of climate change in ecosystems across the globe. When seeds are dropped into the soil, often becoming dormant for many years until they are ready to grow into plants, they become part of the natural storage of seeds in “soil seed banks.” These banks have been thought to better withstand extreme conditions than can the sprouted vegetation that exists above-ground.
A new study published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecological Applications examines how warming and increased precipitation (rain and snow) harms the seeds in the ground of the Tibetan Plateau and elsewhere.
“Soil seed banks are essentially the last resort of natural resilience in ecosystems,” says Scott Collins, professor at New Mexico University and an author on the paper. “Too often we focus on what we see above ground and base management decisions just on the appearance of the plant community.”
The Tibetan Plateau, a place that has been grazed for thousands of years, is an ideal place to study direct and indirect climate effects on vegetation in a fragile environment. The study states that as the highest plateau in the world, averaging over 12,000 feet (4000 meters) in elevation, it is regarded as the third pole of the Earth. The warming rate here is nearly 1.5 times that of global warming due to climate change and annual rainfall has increased in most areas of the plateau.
Read more at Ecological Society of America
Image: Climate resilience of plants like these wildflowers of the Tibetan Plateau could depend on soil seed bank health. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Scott Collins)