Research sheds light on fate of plant life in Arctic

The research findings, published in the Journal of Ecology, show that climate change during the winter months is having a significant impact on the plant life in parts of the Arctic. Research into this area has received little attention when compared with summer warming studies, despite the detrimental effects winter warming is having. The study, which looked at both a natural event and a simulated experiment, found extensive damage to shrubs after a sharp rise in temperatures which lasted for only a few days duration in the winter months. During the natural event in Scandinavia, temperatures rose to 7ºC resulting in loss of snow cover across several hundred square kilometres. Observations during the following summer recorded extensive damage to vegetation in the area. The simulated winter warming event, using heating lamps and soil warming cables on the same type of vegetation, produced similar results. When the temperature rises, the vegetation is no longer insulated by deep snow and so experiences the full impact of warming, before rapidly returning to cold winter temperatures.