Climate change has been a gradual process for most of human history. The slow pace allowed plants time to adapt to variations in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric pressures. Since the 19th century, however, human intervention has been the driving force affecting climate warming. The results are felt globally at the expense of animals, plants and insects, and puts great stress on the natural order of ecosystems.
Newer research by scientists into the response of plant life to climate variances suggests that most plants will be more stressed and less productive in the future.
Abiotic stress factors (a nonliving component in the environment) for plants include wind, sunlight and their symbiotic relationship to temperature.
For example, increased air temperatures and water deprivation can affect plant development by stressing plants’ metabolic rate. A plant may develop fewer buds, live a shorter season, develop diseases that further weaken its health to the point where insect infestations kill it.
Since it is expected that climate change will bring more frequent and severe extreme weather events, including extreme precipitation, wind disturbance, heat waves and drought, how can we keep our gardens productive and healthy?
Manage your soil so conditions such as heavy rains or drought do not compact the soil, which limits aeration thus inhibiting nutrients for your plants. Healthy plants with strong root systems are able to survive high winds.
Use natives. These are plants that grow naturally in the region in which they evolved. Native plants are especially suitable for warmer, drier, wet or windy weather. They are environmental survivors and also provide the nectar and seeds that birds and insects need to preserve ecosystems.
Gardening in a warming climate means purchasing plants that are expected to survive with changes in the weather. Use plants that are drought tolerant and not water guzzlers. Combine trees, plants and shrubs that work in harmony with one another to withstand the weather but encourage and foster animals, birds, insects, that produce a healthy yard.
Susanne Jansson is the chair of the Westhampton Garden Club Conservation Committee.
