Effects of climate change on plant biodiversity

There is an ongoing decline in plant biodiversity, just like there is ongoing biodiversity loss for many other life forms. One of the causes for this decline is climate change. Environmental conditions play a key role in defining the function and geographic distributions of plants. Therefore, when environmental conditions change, this can result in changes to biodiversity. The effects of climate change on plant biodiversity can be predicted by using various models, for example bioclimatic models.

If wildfires become more intense due to climate change, this may result in more severe burn conditions and shorter burn intervals. This can threaten the biodiversity of native vegetation. Habitats may change due to climate change. This can cause non-native plants and pests to impact native vegetation diversity. Therefore, the native vegetation may become more vulnerable to damage.