GLOBAL WARMING

Global warming means that plants which can only cope with certain temperatures have to move northward to stay in the same temperature range. This is difficult if you live on a mountain!

INVASIVE SPECIES

Invasive species are plants (and animals) which have been introduced into an area they don’t belong and spread as they do not have any predators. They take over space and nutrients that local species need to survive.

URBANISATION

As the human population increase we are building more roads and buildings and covering land that would have been home to plants. This is called urbanisation

HABITAT DESTRUCTION

Humans are destroying plant habitat for many reasons, for example deforestation to log valuable hardwoods, or to gain more agricultural land or to mine for metals.

POLLUTION

Toxic chemicals poison the land and prevent plants sensitive to pollution from growing. Excess use of nitrates (found in fertilisers) causes ‘algal blooms’ to grow in water ways which block out the light and starve other living organisms.