Ever wondered how life thrives in the most extreme heights? 🏔️ A new study published this December reveals that mountains and cooling climates have been teaming up for over a million years to produce the dizzying diversity of alpine plants we see today. 🌱❄️
Researchers at the Chinese mainland’s Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences mapped the evolutionary journeys of 8,456 species across 34 groups of flowering plants in five major Northern Hemisphere mountain systems.
They discovered that two partners in crime—tectonic uplift and global cooling—have worked hand-in-hand to “manufacture” plant diversity. As mountains rose, they carved out fresh alpine habitats. At the same time, cooling temperatures expanded icy zones, bridging gaps between ranges and letting plants disperse and mix over vast distances.
“We linked plant evolution with Earth's geological and climate history, revealing how ancient mountains and climate changes have shaped alpine life in clear, predictable ways,” said Xing Yaowu of XTBG, co-corresponding author of the study.
But not all mountain systems played by the same rules. In the Tibeto-Himalayan-Hengduan (THH) region, more than half of new species sprouted right where they were—local diversification at its finest. In Europe and Irano-Turanian ranges, most plants were mid- or low-elevation lineages that leveled up to the heights. Meanwhile, the Tianshan Mountains imported a bulk of their alpine flora straight from the THH cradle.
Ding Wenna, the study's first author, added, “Active mountain uplift consistently speeds up the formation of new species. It helps explain why alpine plant communities vary so much from one region to another today.”
With this research, scientists now have a clear framework to understand why mountains punch above their weight in the biodiversity game. Next time you marvel at a mountain meadow, remember: it's the product of deep time, dynamic geology and climate teaming up to prove that life always finds a way.
Reference(s):
Alpine plants biodiversity study shows how life always finds a way
cgtn.com
