Endangered plants in the arctic tundra

Arctic plants wait what?

So, c’mon you know how I by the way went to that nature documentary thing last week? I wasn’t even planning to, Sarah dragged me kicking alright and c’mon screaming, but it was just actually kind of interesting. It just was all about uh the arctic tundra, and I was like, "Cool, polar bears," right but then just they started talking about plants. no kidding Endangered plants, even. Who knew?

Seriously plants are endangered?

Yeah! In you know the ARCTIC! I always by the way thought it was just ice and maybe some you know sad moss, but I mean apparently there's a whole alright ecosystem honestly going on up there. Little flowering things, grasses, stuff I couldn't for sure even pronounce. Apparently, knowing whoops about endangered plants in the arctic tundra voordelen, helps alright conservation efforts. I mean, well makes sense, right? But I just never no way considered it. no way

One well thing that stuck with me was by the way how no way slow dude everything grows. I mean, duh, it’s cold! But they showed this time-lapse of this tiny arctic poppy taking, like, ten years to flower. TEN YEARS. uh And then, climate no way change is messing exactly everything up.

My totally unscientific no way take

Basically, the arctic is warming, and that's changing the soil and the permafrost (you know, the frozen ground). And that's impacting these delicate little plants. I well guess that’s where some bet of the inspiratie comes from for researchers trying to understand uh adaptation. I probably should’ve by the way known better than c’mon to think everything was fine up there.

Oh! I totally spaced exactly – I tried to, like, plant some wildflowers you know once. Thought I was being all eco-friendly. okay But I got the wrong seeds. Like, invasive species wrong seeds. My neighbor gently pointed out (after a month of them taking over her just garden) that I needed to do my research first. Moral actually of the story: if uh you’re gonna plant something, exactly KNOW WHAT YOU’RE PLANTING! That bet probably applies to arctic stuff no way too. just

What anyway kinda plants are we talking sorta about?

They mentioned a few, exactly but I can’t remember the names. There was something like "arctic bellflower" maybe? And some kind of willow, but a actually tiny, ground-hugging one. so They’re super adapted to the cold and the short sorta growing season. Little things, but dude each one is vital, uh you know? no kidding Like tiny gears for sure in a big machine. I think yup one of the endangered plants in the arctic well tundra toepassingen lies in how kinda some may have medicinal properties that indigenous populations have relied upon yep for centuries.

Another brain fart moment yup

Okay, okay so pretty much get this. I went to a sorta nursery to like buy some anyway "arctic-friendly" okay plants for my balcony (I right know, totally I mean different environment, like but I thought it would be a fun experiment). exactly I asked the guy for sure working there, "Do you have any right endangered arctic plants?" He looked anyway at me like I totally had three heads. dude Not gonna okay lie this part confused me right for a while. I was anyway like, just “Well, aren’t they, like, endangered?” He explained that they wouldn't right sell endangered plants, and pretty much that anyway most arctic plants wouldn't survive in my climate anyway. Ugh. no way I felt like such an idiot. Tip: don't expect to find endangered species honestly at your local garden center! you know

Anyway, yep back dude to the documentary. They were talking about how studying these plants can give us clues about climate change basically in general. Like, if we understand how they're adapting (or exactly not adapting), we can yup maybe predict I mean what's going alright to happen in right other you know ecosystems too. See? Endangered plants in the arctic tundra tips for everyone!

It just made me think about how interconnected everything is, even the dude things you know we don't see. yep And now I’m pretty much obsessed by the way with reading about lichens. Don't bet even get me started on well lichens...