California grasslands will become less productive if temperature or precipitation increases

Grassland at Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. An examination of 17 years of experimental data from the preserve is helping scientists from Rice University, Stanford and the Carnegie Institution for Science better understand how ecosystems will respond to climate change.Credit: Daniel J. Quinn/Stanford University

 

Warmer, wetter climate would impair California grasslands

17-year experiment finds present climate near optimal for plant growth

Date:

September 6, 2016

Source:

Rice University

Summary:

Scientists said data from one of the world’s longest-running climate-change experiments show that California grasslands will become less productive if the temperature or precipitation increases substantially above average conditions from the past 40 years.

Results from one of the longest-running and most extensive experiments to examine how climate change will affect agricultural productivity show that California grasslands will become less productive if the temperature or precipitation increases substantially above average conditions from the past 40 years.

Read the full article: Science Daily