Native wildflowers in California are losing species diversity after multiple years of drier winters, according to a new study.
The findings provide the first direct evidence of climate change impacts in the state’s grassland communities.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on 15 years of monitoring about 80 sampling plots at McLaughlin Reserve, part of University of California, Davis’ Natural Reserve System.
Such diversity losses may foreshadow larger-scale extinctions, especially in regions that are becoming increasingly dry.
