The colors of the flowers change with the climate, becoming more or less intense due to variations in temperature and humidity: this was discovered by researchers at Clemson University, South Carolina, by comparing almost two thousand flowers preserved in the herbaria of various museums with the climate data for the past 125 years.
The results are published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The flowers, belonging to 12 species widespread in North America, were studied in the light of the bioclimatic data of the month and year in which their collection took place, geolocated with precise coordinates.
The results show that plants have reacted to climate change in different ways.
"Species that experienced major increases in temperature lost pigmentation, while those that experienced a sizeable increase in drought increased pigmentation," explains researcher Cierra Sullivan.
“Although we see changes in color, it's not the end of the world, because forests, plants and animals react naturally to what's happening in their environment.
Seeing changes is not necessarily bad, but it is something we need to pay attention to ”.
The same research group recently published a study that demonstrates how, globally, the thinning of the atmospheric ozone layer over the past 75 years has increased the pigments of flowers that absorb ultraviolet rays, with possible repercussions on the behavior of pollinating insects. .
Similarly, the alteration of colors visible to the human eye highlighted by the latest study could also have consequences on the behavior of insects and herbivorous animals.
