Plants Adapted/Evolved to Cope with Cold
As gardeners observe their heat and cold zones shift, they wonder how plants and animals can possibly adapt to all the changes that have happened to climate over time. Locally, the USDA hardiness zone ( http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov ) moved from 6 to 7 and gardeners around the country report similar trends. In school, we learned about the era of dinosaurs, the ice age, and, now the gradual replacement of tropical forest to dry Savannah is occurring. Birds lay eggs earlier in the year and plants are starting their spring cycles days sooner than in the past. Henry David Thoreau recorded detailed lists of the precise blooming and leafing of several hundred flowers trees, and shrubs from 1852 to 1861. Those plants are responding to spring two-weeks earlier now ( http://nyti.ms/1cV6zvv ) as a result of climate change in general and due to the urban heat island created by the greater Boston population. Tree of Life Image: www.techrivet.com At the other end of the spect...