Climate effects on plants

Climate effects on plants

Climatic variations, perceptible on a human scale, have had a considerable influence on plants, which have changed dramatically over the millennia. Evidence of the changes comes from the peat bogs. Plant pollens fall on the surface of the peat bogs and are then perfectly preserved in the layers of peat. This information from the past has allowed scientists to reconstruct the vegetation for a given region for each epoch.

12000 years ago the last glacial period ended and the plateaux gradually lost their ice cover. The plains and hills were covered with scant vegetation that is only found today in the north of Canada or Siberia. Lichens and short grasses dominated.

With the progressive atmospheric reheating the vegetation flourished, and after a stage of small shrubs it moved progressively to forest. There then followed periods of cooling and warming that are not precisely known.

These oscillations caused successive modifications to the plants. It is known that the beech/fir forest of today has been replaced several times by oak forest in the warmer periods and by shrubs, such as hazel and silver birch, in the cooler periods. During dry periods the pine dominated. There were several cold periods during the first millennium AD. Since then a temperate climate has dominated and the natural forest covers a large part of France.

Walking in the Cantal for information on walking and walks in France and the Cantal, accommodation, food and wine.
Walking in France for information on France and GR footpaths.
Auvergne active Self guided walking holidays in the Cantal
Hôtel des Chazes - 2Star and Les Sources - Table & Chambre d'Hôte, St Jacques des Blats. Both excellent bases from which to explore the Cantal.
Monts d'Auvergne-Auvergne Hills for a description and pictures of the area, with suggested walks.
Éditions Chamina for walking guides in the Massif Central.

Classic Geology in Auvergne by Peter Cattermole ISBN 1-903544-05-x available from Blackwells