Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science Biology

Cities Force Plants to Evolve

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
March 4, 2008
in Biology, Studies
Reading Time: 1 min read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

flower

Mankind alteres the balance that nature has and often forces species to evolve quickly to the abrupt changes it brings. A clear and very actual example of this is represented by plants.

As concrete slabs chop up more and more of our urban landscapes, plants are forced to evolve in ways that may not benefit them in the long run, a new study suggests. But it’s not as if they have a choice.

Sorry to interrupt, but you should really...

...Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

ADVERTISEMENT

The long term downside is that as a plant’s habitat becomes more and more fragmented, reproduction becomes more difficult. They analyzed how a weed, Crepis sancta, which was in this situation evolved..

Ironically, though the weeds evolved this way because ithe adaptation favored the survival of the isolated population of the species, ultimately it likely only intensifies that isolation by reducing the population’s gene pool, said study author Pierre-Olivier Cheptou of CNRS.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tags: evolution
ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.