#mesoameric

A study reveals that species have moved to higher altitudes, at an average rate of between 1.8 and 2.7 meters per year since 1979 Plants are also seeking to escape climate change. So much so that in the cloud forests of Mesoamerica, a place where the landscape is shrouded in mist, plant species have moved between 1.8 and 2.7 meters per year since 1979. The climate at the altitude where they had lived for decades was no longer suitable for them and, like any animal or human looking for a new refuge in the face of a disturbing change, plants have very slowly begun to climb the mountains. “It is an important sign that the ecological impacts of this crisis are more complex than we think,” warns Santiago Ramírez Barahona, the lead author of the study that reached this conclusion and that was chosen to be the cover story on the March print edition of the journal Science. Together with several colleagues and with funding from the Mexican Secretariat of Science and Technology, the team has been seeking to understand the vulnerability of cloud forests to climate change since 2019. These figures are the latest piece to be added to a puzzle that they are beginning to put together. From Mexico to Panama, cloud forests represent just 1% of the surface area, “although this figure is for what existed before the 20th century; now it may be much less,” Ramírez explains. In that small percentage, however, there are more than 6,000 species of vascular plants, that is, 18% of the plant diversity in the entire region. Despite their overwhelming prevalence, less than 20% are protected. In Mexico, adds Angela Cuervo from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and co-author of the article, “these forests are one of the most fragile ecosystems.”