Ghent University, Forest & Nature Lab / Biodiversity, plants, climate change
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My main concerns in the field of biodiversity and plant responses to climate change is that many ecosystems (forests, grasslands, drylands, etc. across the globe) ARE already actually changing, but that knowledge of this is very little transferred to the public. Plant populations and entire communities are indeed responding and shifting in terms of their timing of flowering, growth or composition. How to manage and adapt to this change in forestry, agriculture, nature management, etc. should be investigated much more intensively.
My main action I take in my personal life is cycling as much as possible. It takes a bit more time, but avoids the combustion of fossil fuels in cars/buses and use of electricity in trains. I regard this as the main change that is possible in our society and at the political level: changing our lifestyle, diets and plane travel behaviour is so difficult, but removing a major proportion of the cars from our roads should be possible. In addition to the climate benefits, there are major associated benefits such as reduction of air pollution and health and safety (less car crash victims and traffic incidents with cyclists and pedestrians).
Originally posted 2018-07-13 04:17:41.