IRVINE, Calif. — Rising temperatures have landed native plant species in hot water, so it makes sense that to study them.

Elena Skender and Sophia Wallace study at Chapman University. They and their classmates set out to determine the heat tolerance of a dozen local species. What they found is that the danger zone for many of them was below the surface temperatures we experience during heat events like this current one.

“So if that somehow becomes our new norm, which it’s projected to be with rising climates, then a lot of these plants will not make it,” explained Wallace.

They also were able to draw conclusions about why some plants weather the hot weather better than others, like pubescence — the fine hairs found on some species.

“Leaves that have more pubescence are more heat tolerant,” Skender said. “This sage would hopefully be able to survive in higher temperatures than the lemon berry.”

Knowing this is vital for the work being done by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, which partnered with the students on this project. Scott Graves is the communications manager for the nonprofit that’s dedicated to restoring and protecting urban wildlands.

(Spectrum News/Tara Lynn Wagner)

“It’s really important to understand which plants we’re going to have to keep a closer eye on,” Graves said. “And which plants are going to continue to thrive, or maybe might even do even better in the heat so we can adapt our restoration projects accordingly.”

He recognizes how science and stewardship go hand in hand, which is why he loves having young people visit places like the seed farm.

“We really need to make sure that we’re fostering the next generation of scientists and land stewards,” he said, “and continue the work that we’re doing.”

In addition to a taste of fieldwork, associate professor Gregory Goldsmith says the students learned about the process of scientific research, from asking the question, to collecting the data to sharing the results. This summer, students presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, the summer and they just submitted their study for peer review to be published in a journal called Global Ecology and Conservation. 

Goldsmith hopes that this becomes an annual project, especially considering what’s at stake if any of these plants survives fails to survive.

“When we lose one species in an ecosystem, then it often has cascading effects,” he explained. “Both for, for example, the other plants in that ecosystem, but also for the insects and the pollinators of that ecosystem.”

As an environmental science and policy major, Skender is concerned about all of that. The work she did on this project, both in the field and in the lab, may well boil over into the senior’s future plans.

“Especially working with plants,” she said. “They affect a lot of our ecosystems and our lives, even if it doesn’t seem like it. But it’s definitely something I want to keep looking into as I continue with my career.”

A fertile field of study in a biodiversity hotspot that keeps getting hotter.