Research is showing that climate change is converting alpine meadows to shrub-dominated ecosystems with alpine plants migrating further up mountains in search of cooler temperatures and new habitats.

The Third Pole website summarizes findings by scientists which warn that warming temperatures could lead to the extinction of rare medicinal plants.

“If shrubs take over everywhere, Tibetans would have to abandon their herding practice,” says Jodi Brandt, a professor at Dartmouth College in the United States.

The scientists attribute the decline of alpine meadows to declining snow cover caused by climate change along with overgrazing by yaks.

Studies in Europe also found alpine plants to have migrated, on average 2.7 metres upward between 2001 and 2008.

In Asia, little is known about alpine ecosystems, however emerging research seems to support the hypothesis that climate change is a key factor contributing to shrub encroachment in alpine meadows. It is believed that further warming may threaten the survival of rare alpine plants, including those that are used as traditional medicines.

Jianchu Xu, regional coordinator for East and Central Asia with the World Agroforestry Centre has said that climate change is only one of several complex factors influencing alpine ecosystem change, and that building local knowledge and responses to changing conditions should be a key policy priority.

Read the full story: Climate change threatens Tibet’s rare alpine plants