ClimateWire featured UBC research showing that rapid evolution is a driving force that could allow plants to escape to cooler climates.
The study focused on the migratory ability of a small flowering plant, testing how quickly generations of the plant could move across man-made landscapes composed of rows of rectangular pots.
“We were able to replicate this and isolate the effect of evolution so we can show that it is in fact a driving mechanism behind the speed of plant migration — and that it can both accelerate the rate of spread and it can do so predictably,” said Jennifer Williams, a UBC plant ecologist and lead study author.
