COLUMNIST: LAURA FRANCES
Sarah Watts, a PhD researcher in biological and environmental sciences at Stirling University, has spent over a decade monitoring rare plant species in Scotland, adding to data that goes back more than 40 years, and has published a research paper titled, ‘Riding the elevator to extinction’. She says, “Our research signals a rapid loss of biodiversity happening right now which means that, if it’s allowed to continue on this accelerated trajectory due to climate change, we will see the extinction of species.”
Found most commonly in higher altitudes, and now only existing on Perthshire’s Ben Lawers mountain range, the population of snow pearlwort has decreased rapidly, by 66% since 1990. Known also as Sagina nivalis, the plant is known for its carpet-like growth pattern, with its green leaves spreading across the ground in harsh, alpine environments. It produces delicate white petals, no more than a few millimetres in size.
The effects of climate change have caused the plant to gradually creep further up the mountainside, in search of cooler temperatures. Without intervention, the snow pearlwort is in danger of being wiped out completely in the coming years.
The drooping saxifrage, also known as Saxifraga cernua, is an alpine plant found commonly in Arctic climates, including those of Iceland and Siberia, and the high altitudes of Scotland’s mountain ranges, specifically Ben Nevis, Ben Lawers, and Glen Coe.
With short stems adorned with tiny, ruby red leaves, leading to white flowers at the top, the drooping saxifrage is a welcome sign to avid hillwalkers that they are close to the summit. Research however, by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland shows that the plant has declined more than 50% due to the impacts of climate change threatening the existence of the Arctic temperatures it needs in order to survive.
Mountain sandwort, Arenaria montana, is an evergreen perennial native to mountainous regions of Europe, including the heights of Ben Lawers. It produces clumps of small, white flowers on a bed of delicate green leaves from late spring into early summer.
Ben Lawers stands at over 1,000 metres and is home to many rare plants due to its rich, alkaline soil and Arctic temperatures closer to the summit. Like the drooping saxifrage, the mountain sandwort population has also declined by over 50% in recent years and is in danger of complete extinction.
The impact of global warming and climate change means that these rare plants that have been homed in our historic and beautiful Scottish mountain ranges are now in danger of disappearing completely. Global temperature rises have forced the plants to migrate upwards in search of colder temperatures, and they are therefore in competition with the surrounding plant life, meaning that there is less room for biodiversity in these areas.
These frightening statistics leave us with one important question: is it too late to save our native plant species, and reverse the effects of climate change?
Sarah Watts suggests that there is still hope. She says, “Development of conservation collections of these species, in collaboration with horticulturalists working at botanical gardens, will be of critical importance for preserving the Scottish populations before they become extinct. These collections would also allow us to conduct further research into the factors affecting the plants’ survival or decline, and could be used for assisted migrations to more suitable mountain habitat in the future.”
Alongside the continued efforts of researchers like Sarah, Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens were granted funding of more than £700,000 in March 2023, towards conserving ten unique tree and plant species in Scotland. The list of plants includes marsh saxifrage, the Alpine blue sowthistle, bluebells, and elm trees found commonly near the Cairngorms, to name but a few. The RBGE also participates in translocation of threatened plant species, and they house several ex-situ collections on their site for further preservation and research.
In recent years, the Scottish Government also published The Scottish Plant Health Strategy, outlining their mission to protect the health of plants across Scotland, including agricultural crops, parks and gardens, natural forestry, and plants found in the natural environment.
These ongoing research and conservation efforts provide hope that we can not only reverse some of the current effects of climate change, but prevent the landscapes, wildlife, and plant life of Scotland from falling prey to even further damage, before it is too late.
To find out more about climate change in Scotland, visit Scotland’s environment web.
Laura Frances is an editorial assistant with Scotland Grows, and a budding, brilliant writer.
You can catch up with Laura's gardening journey at @theebabygardener.