A Native California Wildflower Isn’t Keeping Up with Climate Change
Mountain Jewelflower May Hold Lessons for Helping Other Species
The mountain jewelflower inhabits a wide swath of California and Oregon, from summer-scorched foothills to high mountains where snow falls during winter. But it is already suffering from climate change, with plants in the mountains struggling to survive both summers and winters, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
“Evolutionarily, it isn’t keeping up with changes in the environment,” said lead author Brandie Quarles-Chidyagwai, a UC Davis postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Plant Biology.
Different populations of this species evolved over millennia to fit California’s diverse environments. With climate change, those adaptations may no longer match local conditions, potentially threatening the mountain jewelflower (Streptanthus tortuosus) — especially in the high mountains.