Sixty years of plant community change in Europe indicate a shift toward nutrient-richer and denser vegetation.
Midolo G, Clark AT, Chytrý M, Essl F, Dullinger S
Soil Health
Wild plants disappearing from meadows, wetlands, and forests near you are being quietly replaced by a smaller set of tough, nutrient-loving species — meaning the diverse, colorful landscapes many of us grew up with are slowly becoming more uniform and less wildlife-friendly.
Scientists looked at decades of plant surveys from across Europe and found that our landscapes are changing in a big way. Too much fertilizer and pollution in the air has caused nitrogen-loving plants — the ones that grow big and fast and shade out their neighbors — to take over almost everywhere. At the same time, the delicate plants that thrive in wet, low-nutrient places like bogs and fens are disappearing, and mountain plants are slowly shifting as temperatures creep up.
Key Findings
Nitrogen-demanding species increased significantly across all major habitat types between 1960 and 2020, analyzed across 18,345 time series.
Shade-tolerant species moderately increased Europe-wide, indicating vegetation is becoming denser and more closed-canopy over six decades.
Wetland plant communities showed a decline in moisture-dependent species, while alpine habitats showed recent warming-driven shifts in temperature indicator species.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A sweeping 60-year study of nearly 645,000 plant survey sites across Europe found that plant communities are shifting dramatically — more nutrient-hungry, shade-tolerant species are taking over, while wetland plants are declining and alpine areas are warming.
Abstract Preview
Anthropogenic impacts are reshaping plant biodiversity patterns, yet how community-composition shifts track environmental change at large spatial and temporal scales remains unclear. Here, we quant...
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