Drought Is Becoming More Severe to Plant Physiology as a Result of Climate Change

Droughts, one of the factors that only affect plant physiology, are becoming more severe in all plant ecosystems around the world as a result of climate change.

Although new tools for detecting and assessing drought stress in plants have been developed, such as transcriptomic or metabolomic technologies, they are still difficult to apply in natural ecosystems, particularly in remote areas and developing countries.

Fighting the impact of drought on plants

(Photo : VALENTINE CHAPUIS/AFP via Getty Images)

A new study published in the journal Trends in Plant Science describes a set of techniques that allow researchers to detect and monitor drought stress in plants in a low-cost, easy-to-use manner.

Sergi Munné-Bosch and Sabina Villadangos from the Faculty of Biology and the Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio) at the University of Barcelona are the study's authors, as per ScienceDaily.

Basic-equipment laboratories

The study aims to address the need for effective and low-cost protocols for detecting and studying how droughts affect plants.

The authors present a set of simple techniques that can be used with common laboratory equipment, including a precision balance, microscope, centrifuge, spectrophotometer, oven, camera, and computer.

Using the tetrazolium test, an organic heterocyclic compound that has traditionally been used in plant physiology studies, these laboratories could analyze various parameters on growth rates, leaf water content, pigments, and leaf viability.

Climate change is sparking interest in how plants adapt to new environmental conditions.

"This is more than a stimulus; humans must adapt to climate change, and they will always do so better hand in hand with nature, integrating with it; to do so, it is essential to know the ecosystems and all the organisms that form part of them, including plants," Munné-Bosch said.

Designing and implementing high-quality scientific tools is critical for developing management plans and conserving biodiversity around the world.

According to UB researcher Sabina Villadangos, this study contributes to a better understanding of plants' responses to drought in the context of climate change.

It may also be useful for biodiversity management programs.

Also Read: Drought in Western US Could Last Until 2030 Due to Climate Change

Global warming threatens plant diversity

Climate change, according to Dr. Jan Henning Sommer of Bonn University's Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants, "could bring great confusion to the existing pattern of plant diversity, with scarcely predictable consequences for our ecosystems and mankind."

The potential impact of climate change on global plant diversity has now been quantified and modeled on a regional basis for the first time.

The researchers investigated the number of plant species found in various regions under current climatic conditions, and the resulting interrelationship they discovered has now been applied to 18 different climate change scenarios for the year 2100.

The worst effects of global warming on plant species numbers may be felt in South America's tropical Amazonian rainforests.

Scientists expect future climatic conditions in Germany and other temperate regions around the world to promote the provision of habitat space for an increased number of species.

"However, this is hardly a gain because the increased redistribution of plant species will promote worldwide uniformity in the regional composition of species at the expense of unique species that have adapted to special habitat conditions," Sommer said.

As a result, globalization would reach the plant kingdom.

This division also has a political dimension: favored areas are largely associated with the industrialized nations, which are largely responsible for global warming due to their high levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The study also clearly demonstrates the consequences of a half-hearted climate policy.

If global temperatures rise by 1.8°C above 2000 levels, the proportion of favored and disadvantaged regions in terms of species richness will remain balanced.

"Even if the climate protection goals agreed upon in Copenhagen are met, we are still on track for a temperature rise of up to 4°C," Sommer said.

In this case, the projected losses in capacity for plant species richness would far outweigh any gains in other regions.