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AFUW-ACT
Inc. Meeting Report
TOPIC: IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON FLOWERING OF AUSTRALIAN
PLANTS
Speaker: Dr Rod King
Dr King was educated in Australia and then completed a PhD in Canada.
He has worked for 40 years as a research scientist at CSIRO Plant Industry
with emphasis on flowering of cereals and grasses. An interest in introducing
Australian plants into horticulture led to his studies over 15 years
on environmental regulation of their flowering.
Scientific literature suggests that climate change will affect the timing
of flowering, and may influence other factors related to the survival
of plant species. Rising temperatures are related to the occurrence
of fires, flood, storms, drought and CO2 fertilisation. Observation
of five Australian plant species showed significant changes occurred
when they were grown in warmer temperatures, even of only +3oC. Some
plants flowered earlier, producing them earlier; while others had reduced
pigment, and this colour change made the flowers invisible to insect-pollinators,
with long-term impacts on their potential for survival. Genetic diversity
might hold the key to survival of species. But, plants cannot migrate
as easiliy as animals, insects and other living things. Instead, various
groups are trying to collect and store genetic diversity – frozen
seeds and genetic material, botanical collections (“museums for
plants”), and assisted species relocation. Humans have had the
greatest impact on plant extinction, but may also be the only answer
to their survival.
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