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According to climate-models, incidences of extreme temperatures in the summer will increase in the future. The annual mean temperature will increase by 1-2.5°C in the 2021-2050 period while the degree of warming will reach 2-5°C by 2071-2100. Referring to the models, winter precipitation will increase by 15-20% while summers will observe a 10-30% decrease in rainfall. This scenario refers to the forecasts in Hungary to the whole Mediterranean region and lead to apocalyptic demage to the economy, agricolture, human health and biodiversity

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Authors: Umberto Maritano (1); Alexandre Sousa (2); Marina Makri (3); Mina Tsinoglou (4); Agnes Szabad (5); Paraskevi-Danai Androulidaki (6), Athanasios Maziotis (7).
Affiliation: Indipendent Researcher, Torino, Italy (1); Researcher
AEV- Associação de Escolas de Verão; Marvão/Portugal (2);
Date: 31/03/2019

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Has climate change affected any (wild or cultivated) plants in your PlantArea? Give examples.

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In Crete, an island with typical Mediterranean climate, high temperatures and lack of rainfall during summer are the most important factors determining productivity of tree crops. Meteorological data and predictive models of climate change indicate that summer precipitation will be lower and the frequency of extreme climatic phenomena, like heat waves, will increase. Consequently, the combination of reduced rainfall and increased temperature will impose higher evapotranspiration losses, increasing the water stress problems of cultivated crops, while the reduction in the availability of irrigation water of good quality will increase the use of saline water and augment the already existing problem of salinity in the island. Therefore, cultivated species in Crete, and the Eastern Mediterranean region in general, will have to grow in a hotter, drier and, in some cases, more saline environment.(Chartzoulakis, 2005)
As an example we can mention the effects that climate has already done on the Alamitos brackish Karst spring at Heraklion Crete,  one of the main sources of fresh water for the island for people and for agricultural use as well. The most important conclusions are as follows: 1) the spring is mainly affected by the annual precipitation height and less, by the precipitation intensity, by the wet day number over the year and by the mean sea level rise, 2) it will not give fresh water during the whole year and sometimes, it will be dried in the summer, 3) due to fractal structure of the limestone porosity, the chloride concentration of the spring water will decrease during the depletion period, when the discharge becomes less than 2.80m³/sec, although there is not any precipitation during this period(Marathamas, 2011).
At the link below we can observe how ornamental mediterranean plants react to drought effect

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Since the nineties of the 20th century, the scientific community has been urging the public opinion with the aim to increase its awareness on topics of enviromental relevance such as the consequences of climate change and biodiversity losses, which are factors that are causing irreparable damages to both natural environments and human society alike. Climate change takes place in two different ways: global warming and extreme weather events.

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Extreme climatic events in the Alpine region have always been rare and of modest magnitude. On 29/10/2018 a Mediterranean cyclon hit the Alps near Belluno devastating 28000 hectares of conifer woods, part of which are very well known because the wood used to carve violins. In addition to the wind, another alarming fact about this event was the amount of precipitation with 900 mm in 72 hours in the Friuli region, more than all those that fell in the previous 10 months.
Watch the videos:
https://www.ildolomiti.it/video/cronaca/2018/il-video-la-desolazione-degli-alberi-rasi-al-suolo-sul-vezzena
https://www.ildolomiti.it/video/cronaca/2018/il-video-in-primiero-un-cimitero-di-abeti-ecco-la-situazione-dopo-i-danni

The main demage concerns ecosystem services: when all the plants have fallen there is a high landslide risk, the water is not purified from the soil, the plants do not absorbe carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and do not produce more oxygen...an extreme events it causes damage to the community over several years.

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Thousands of spruce tree spill into rivers.

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Thousands of spruce tree spill into rivers.

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According to Giannis Kollatos MSc Biotechnology, and his article (published in newspaper: TO VIMA in 2018), Greece is already suffering from the weather extremes that climate change brings: violent storms during winter and summer and less frequent but more intense rains. It is claimed that these weather extremes are damaging the cultivations throughout the country. Less frequent but more intense rains mean that the cultivated plants are not watered gradually and evenly between months, like they used to, but they get a lot of water in less time, which does not help their growing. Moreover, more extreme hail storms are damaging the fruits. The cultivations who are said to have suffered last year from weather extremes are grains, tomato, legumes, fruits (peaches, watermelons, melons, cherries and more) and cotton. According to a paper (Ozdemir, 2016), Greece has already suffered some effects of the climate change, concerning the cultivations of olive. The droughts that climate change has caused, meaning warmer temperatures and lack of water, are responsible for the dying of many olive trees.

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Mediterranean's socio-ecosystems (such as wetlands, high mountain ranges and coasts) are currently being negatively affected by climate change and, on the basis of current data, this affection is expected to increase significantly in the future (IUCN 2019).

Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of wood and non-wood products, including wood biomass, forage, fruits, mushrooms, honey, botanical herbs; affect water quantity and quality; enhance air quality and the sequestration of CO2; play a valuable role in soil protection and biodiversity conservation by providing habitats and food for a host of living creatures. They also have considerable cultural and aesthetic value and provide opportunities for numerous recreational activities (hiking, camping, hunting, etc.), all essential to human wellbeing.

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We must not forget that biodiversity conservation can play an active role when managing sustainability and indirect ecosystem services, such as long-term carbon storage, soil recovery and water cycle regulation. For example in Portugal, "Montado" it is considered a prestigious area from this point of view. One of the most widely used mechanisms currently to validate sustainable forest management is forest certification. Certification is a mechanism to which the owners voluntarily adhere and through which they undertake to adopt forest management practices that obey environmental and socio-economic principles. Products derived from certified forest ecosystems, identified through a logo, are valued by the market, which constitutes an incentive for the owners to adhere to forest certification. The cork Oak mounts have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a non-governmental organization, established in 1993 to safeguard forest ecosystems.                           In Portugal there are currently about 80,000 ha of Cork Oak, certified and identified in the last National Forest Inventory.             The attributes related to biodiversity values include, for example, the potential occurrence of endangered species or a priority habitat in the forest management unit. Always in that Portugal area ecosystem services include, among others, the requirements of the certification imply the implementation of measures, for example: the maintenance of adequate levels of tree regeneration, in particular through the control and management of grazing; the careful management of the vegetation of the water lines promoting the 'Ripicola' species; the maintenance of a covered vegetation in the most declivous areas in order to avoid soil losses by erosion; the promotion of the "Habitat Mosaic", that is, the maintenance of areas of pasture or cereal intercalated with areas of vegetation and that favor the heterogeneity of the Habitat; the maintenance of covered with trees of various age classes and allowing the regular substitution of older trees, which are lost by mortality, by newer trees.
In conclusion, we had a well-defined goal: to understand what happened to the 'montado' plant community. First, we must discover the nonlinear pattern of decrease in functional diversity to map the areas that have the highest risk of desertification. Afterwards, the way to manage soil use is adapted to the conditions of these sites. Finally, you have to revert this degradation with restore actions.

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1. Climatic change:
Bradley, B. A., Oppenheimer, M., & Wilcove, D. S. (2009). Climate change and plant invasions: restoration opportunities ahead?. Global Change Biology, 15(6), 1511-1521.
2. Gordo, O., & Sanz, J. J. (2010). Impact of climate change on plant phenology in Mediterranean ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 16(3), 1082-1106.
3. Lawler, J. J. (2009). Climate change adaptation strategies for resource management and conservation planning. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1162(1), 79-98.
4. IUCN www.iucn.org
5. WWF Hellas
6. Ramos A, Pereira MJ, Soares A, Rosário L., Matos P, Nunes A, Branquinho C Pinho. Seasonal patterns of Mediterranean evergreen woodlands (Montado) are explained by long-term precipitation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 202: 44-50.  (2015)
7. Gálos, B. & Führer, E. (2018): Climate projections for forestry in Hungary. Bulletin of Forestry Science, 8(1): 43-55. (in Hungarian)
8. Extreme events:
https://www.ildolomiti.it/video/cronaca/2018/il-video-la-desolazione-degli-alberi-rasi-al-suolo-sul-vezzena
https://www.ildolomiti.it/video/cronaca/2018/il-video-in-primiero-un-cimitero-di-abeti-ecco-la-situazione-dopo-i-danni
9. Movements of the treeline:
Giuliano D., Cerrato C., Viterbi R., Savoldelli P.- The Orthopterans (Insecta:Orthoptera) of the Orsiera-Rocciavrè Natural Park and the Orrido di Foresto Natural Reserve (Piedmont, NW Italy).Rivista Piemontese di Storia Naturale, 38:157-177.
10. Greening high altitude:
Bradley Z Carlson, Monica C Corona, Cedric Dentant, Richard Bonet, Wilfried Thuiller and Philippe Choler. 2017. Observed long-term greening of alpine vegetation-a case study in French Alps. Enviromental Research Letters, Volume 12, Number 11.
11. Keller F et al. 2000 Evidence of response of vegetation to enviromental change on high-elevation sites in the Swiss Alps, Reg.Environ. Change, 1, 70-77.
12. Advanced blooms:
Defila, C. und Clot, B., 2005: Phytophenological trends in the Swiss Alps, 1951 - 2002. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 14 (2), 191-196.
Others:
13. Nikolett Lepesi, Ákos Bede-Fazekas, Bálint Czúcz
and Imelda Somodi
Quarterly Journal of the Hungarian Meteorological Service
Vol. 121, No. 4, October – December, 2017, pp. 415–436
14.  THE ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN GREECE -June 2011 (https://www.bankofgreece.gr/bogekdoseis/climatechange_fullreport_bm.pdf)
15.E.Georgopoulou et al. (2017),Climate change impacts and adaptation options for the Greek agriculture in 2021–2050: A monetary assessment(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096316300468#b0020)
16. FORESTS ABLAZE, Causes and effects of global forest fires-WWF study (2017) (https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/WWF-Study-Forests-Ablaze.pdf)
17. Fire Situation in Greece

By Gavriil Xanthopoulos,
Natural Resource Technologies Consulting, Athens, Greece (http://www.fao.org/3/AD653E/ad653e64.htm)
18. PODLECH, D.; LIPPERT, W., Wild Flowers: of Britain & Europe. 1994.
19. PINTO-CORREIA, T.; RIBEIRO, N.; POTES, J.; Livro Verde dos Montados. 2013
20. HAWKEY, S., Plantas Medicinais. 2004.

Other WEB-Sites & Links consulted on 20/03/2019                www.floraon.pt www.spbotanica.pt http://naturdata.com www.jb.utad.pt http://www.uc.pt/ herbario_digital/herb_uc http://www.bioscripts.net/coloma/
About Hungary: https://www.climatechangepost.com/hungary/climate-change/
https://www.climatechangepost.com/news/2016/10/31/farmers-eastern-europe-will-suffer-more-climate-ch/

https://www.globalnature.org/35261/Living-Lakes/Europe/Lake-Balaton/Balaton-Adaptation-Project/resindex.aspx
https://www.climatechangepost.com/news/2018/10/17/global-warming-will-increase-wheat-rice-and-maize-/

https://www.climatechangepost.com/news/2018/10/20/shift-tree-species-composition-european-forests-re/

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/3/243
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/distribution-of-plant-species-2/assessment

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4640131/

https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/adaptation/how_en

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The focus of restoration will need to shift from historic species assemblages to potential future ecosystem services. For managing the changes in the climate we need to better understand which species  will likely be most affected by climate change, how to preserve and enhance the evolutionary capacity of species and how to implement effective adaptive management in new systems (Lawler 2009).
Successful restoration practices  must be addressed before other undesirable species invade and eliminate restoration opportunities (Bradley et al. 2009).
Forests play an important role in dealing with the climate change by reducing its impact. They sequester the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) and convert it to biomass. They diminish the impact of severe meteorological phenomena and are necessary in preserving biodiversity, while their absence can intensify desertification.

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Thank you for reminding the massmedia that there is no more time, we must all act quikly, hurry up all togheter!

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In Piedmont (italian Alps) the minimum daily temperatures have increased around 1.5 ° C in 58 years. There is no change in trend in recent periods, in fact in the entire period 1958-2015 the minimum temperatures have increased by 0.25 ° C / 10 years, in the period 1981-2015 0.21 ° C / 10 years. Chart from ARPA (Regional Agency for Enviromental Protection). Similar data are also found in forecasts on trends in other Mediterranean area such as in Greece and Hungary. As shown by WWF Hellas (2019), mean MST (maximum summer temperature) will increase by 2°C in 2021-2050 compared to 1961-1990 period. At the same time there will be an increase in annual days due to the risk of fire (+10) and drought (+7) and a decline of winter rainfall (-15%).
In line with the global trends, Hungary has also observed major changes in its regional climatic conditions in the last 100 years and more intensely in the past 30 years. According to the systematically collected and evaluated climate data series of the Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ), an increase (more than 1,2 °C in average) can be observed in the mean annual temperature since the early ‘80s in Hungary.

In addition to this, a considerable change in the intensity of temperature extremities can be observed as well. The decrease in the number of frost days (when daily minimum temperature drops below 0°C) while the increase in the number of hot days (when daily maximum temperature reaches or exceeds 30°C) clearly shows an accelerated warming phenomenon.
In Portugal, notably in the Alentejo region,  we are genuinely concerned with verified and confirmed real threats of climate change that we do not know, in fact how to solve. Alentejo is one of the regions most affected by climate change in Europe due to the combined effect of temperature increases and reduced precipitation in a region that is already in a climate fringe close to the limit of habitability.

The economy of Alentejo is heavily dependent on the primary sector – more than 6 billion euros annually and more than 54000 direct jobs in agriculture and tourism that will be heavily affected by the planned climate change.

Alentejo has a low average level of socioeconomic development, which is an issue of the adaptability of local communities to climate change.

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 Impacts of climate change on agriculture (Greece)

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 Impacts of climate change on agriculture (Greece)

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The need to identify the impacts of climate change on agriculture (higher CO2 levels, warmer temperatures, variations in precipitation, increase in weather extreme intensity and frequency, changes in the spatial distribution of crop pests and diseases; Tubiello et al., 2007) is heightened by the fact that these changes are expected to impact global food reserves, thereby leading to acute food shortages. Moreover, the increase in weather extremes can lead to a dramatic increase in food prices and to changes in the trade balance between countries (Lobell et al., 2008). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007a) reports that a moderate temperature rise in the first half of this century is likely to increase crop yields in the temperate zone, but to reduce them in the subtropical and tropical zones. In the EU, as reported by the PESETA research project, crop production may, depending on the scenario, drop by 0-27% in Southern Europe, while increasing by as much as 40% in Central and Northern Europe. Using the HadCM3 model (Giannakopoulos et al., 2009) for Scenarios Α2 and Β2 (temperature rise of 2ºC, period 2031-2060) for the Northern Mediterranean, including Greece, bulb crop production is projected to decrease by 9.33% (Scenario Α2), while cereal production is projected to increase by as much as 12.49% (Scenario Β2). Kapetanaki and Rosenzweig (1997) have forecast a drop in maize yields in Thessaly by as much as 20%, while a study by  the Greek Ministry of the Environment (1997) for the period 2071-2100 forecasts decreases in maize production by as much as 55% and variations in durum wheat production from -67% to +15%, depending on the scenario. According to the same study, the cotton production is expected to decrease by as much as 29% in Macedonia and Thessaly, but to increase in Thrace by as much as 21%, while viticultural crops will vary from -59% to +55% depending on the scenario and region.
On tomato, a recent study covering the Mediterranean region (Saadi et al., 2015) concluded that yields will not change by 2050 under the A1B scenario as tomato is mostly an irrigated crop; however, under mild or severe water stress, relative yield losses by 10–60% were estimated for most of the region.
As for other outdoor vegetables and grain legumes, published research for Europe is limited.
Regarding grapevines, modified climatic conditions are expected to have an impact on yields, as well as on the wine quality by changing the ratio between sugar and acids (Bock et al., 2011, Santos et al., 2011, Duchêne et al., 2010).
The impact on tree crops is expected to be negative, particularly in Southern Greece and Crete. All studies point to an increased vulnerability of crop production in the years ahead in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region in particular, a projection of great importance to Greece.

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Impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems (Greece)

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Impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems (Greece)

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Forest ecosystems occupy 65% of Greece’s land surface (forests 25%, rangelands 40%). Having undergone considerable degradation as a result of centuries of disregard and improper use, their present contribution to human welfare is well below potential. The ability of forest ecosystems to yield products and quality services depends primarily on their stability, a function of their biodiversity, vigorousness and growth dynamic. Forest production depends primarily on environmental factors, such as temperature, solar radiation, soil water and nutrients, but is also affected by synecological factors, such as interand intra- competition, interactions with animals and microorganisms, as well as wildfires (Johnsen et al., 2001). A small rise in temperature and decrease in precipitation was recorded in the course of the 20th century, a trend expected to continue in the 21st century as well (Zerefos, 2009), with precipitation projected to decrease in Greece : Scenario Β2 (-35 mm), Scenario Α2 (-84 mm). It has been estimated that the overall decrease in precipitation by 2100 will not be uniform across Greece. Precipitation is expected to decrease in continental Greece (where the country’s productive forests are located), but to increase in the islands of the Aegean (except Crete). Forest ecosystems will suffer from the combined effect of reduced precipitation and increased temperatures during the hot and dry period, while facing a higher risk of devastation from wildfires (Giannakopoulos et al., 2009). The question that arises is to what extent forest species will be able to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Otherwise, forest ecosystems will be at an increased risk of destabilisation and, in extreme cases, extinction. These impacts could be considerably mitigated with the timely implementation of appropriate management strategies – such as special silvicultural treatment (FAO, 2003). Thus, the urgent need to adapt innovative forest policy and strategic management geared towards mitigating and effectively addressing the negative impacts of oncoming climate change.

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Every year, there are at least 50,000 fires in the  Mediterranean region. According to the FAO, 700,000 to 1 million ha of forest thus fall prey to the flames. This corresponds to the area of Crete or Corsica, or 1.3 % to 1.7 % of the entire forest cover of the Mediterranean region.  The EU countries Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are particularly affected. In Greece for example, over 1.4 million ha of forests were destroyed by fire from 1985 to 2014, which is more than one tenth of the country’s territory.
Forest vegetation of Greece

Forest vegetation reflects the climate and topography of the country as well as the soil condition, which is generally quite poor. The influence of man, active in the area for more than three thousand years, is also reflected in the distribution and usually degraded condition of the forests. Drought-resistant evergreen broadleaved species (Quercus ilex, Laurus nobilis, Ceratonia siliqua, Olea europaea, Arbutus spp., Cistus spp., Erica spp., Pistacia spp. etc.), mostly forming shrublands, and pine trees (Pinus halepensis, Pinus brutia, Pinus pinea, etc.) occupy the lower elevations in the country (up to 300 m above sea level in northern Greece and 800 m in the south). Next, there is a zone of deciduous broadleaved species (Quercus spp., Fagus orientalis, Castanea vesca, etc.) and conifers (Pinus nigra, Pinus maritima, Cupressus sempervirens, Abies cephalonica, etc.) that reaches 900 m in the north and 1 200 m in the south. At higher elevations, up to 1 800 m, vegetation includes cold-tolerant broadleaved tree species (such as Fagus silvatica, Fagus moesiaca, Quercus sessiliflora, Quercus pedunculata, Populus tremula, Betula pendula, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer spp., etc.) and conifers (Pinus nigra, Pinus silvestris, Abies alba, etc.). Finally, at elevations up to 2 200 m, vegetation mostly includes cold tolerant conifers and a few broadleaved species (Picea excelsa, Abies alba, Pinus peuce, Pinus silvestris, Pinus heldreichii, Populus tremula, Sorbus aucuparia).

Forest flammability is generally high. The most flammable types are the pine forests (Pinus halepensis, Pinus brutia) and the shrublands at the lower elevations, by the sea, in the middle and southern part of the country. This vegetation is also adapted to fire either through cone serotiny (pines) or re-sprouting (shrubs).

Since the beginning of the new millennium, the Mediterranean region has been fighting a new phenomenon called megafires. Extreme weather conditions help create firestorms raging with such ferocity and spreading so quickly that they become uncontrollable. They only end with changing weather conditions or when they run out of fuel. Especially in the wildland-urban interface, which has significantly increased due to urban sprawl, these megafires cause serious damage and even loss of human lives. Megafires can also occur in an average forest fire year.
In Greece, forest fires in Athens’ surroundings during the secondhalf of August were responsible for aroundhalf of the country’s forest cover losses in 2009.
Climate change further exacerbates the risk of forest fires in the Mediterranean region. Expected effects include longer drought periods during the summer and also the occurrence of droughts at other times of the year. In the southern Mediterranean region, wildfire risk will remain high year-round. Even today, climate conditions in the Mediterranean region – long summers with practically no rain and with average temperatures far above 30 °C – dry the litter layer to lower than 5 % humidity, making one spark sufficient to ignite a huge conflagration.  Climate change also increasingly triggers extreme weather conditions such as long hot spells with low humidity and strong winds, which permitted the fires in Greece in 2007 to assume devastating proportions. The incidence of sudden storms with strong rains reaching average annual rainfall levels within hours may also increase. Strong rains wash the unprotected soil off burned surfaces, and soil erosion further leads to desertification.

Reports about wildfires in Greece through the last years

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A report has been issued about one of the wildfires that recently burned into populated areas in Greece ( covered by Wildfire Today here). The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens distributed the document in their Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies.

The fire started July 23, 2018 near the community of Kallitehnoupolis on Penteli Mountain, approximately 20km (12 miles) northeast of Athens and 5.6 km (3.5 miles) west of the Aegean Sea. With the extreme weather conditions it spread quickly east to Kallitechnoulopis, Neos Voutzas, Rafina, and reached Mati where it finally stopped at the coast.

The Fire Service responded, sending 60 personnel in 24 vehicles, 2 ground forces teams, 3 Canadair scooping air tankers, and a helicopter.

Pushed by strong winds out of the west the fire ran 5.6 km (3.5 miles) in about 90 minutes, moving through a densely populated area frequented by tourists.

From the report:

The aftermath is tragic. The fire burned approximately 1,276 ha (3,153 acres), estimated from satellite data. Within the area, there are approximately 1,220 totally destroyed buildings (according to official inspections) and 305 burned vehicles. The days following the event, the authorities recovered at least 91 bodies from the scene (updated July 31, 2018 at 11.00am). Several missing persons were reported and tens of injured (approximately 200 at some point) were transferred to nearby hospitals.

The wind speeds recorded by a network of weather stations were the highest seen during the summer months in the last eight years, with gusts of 100 to 120 km/hour (62 to 74 mph).

The rapid spread of the fire and with little effective notification, the residents and tourists in the communities in its path and the densely populated city of Mati had little chance to escape. The report said, "The population had almost zero time between risk awareness and reaction decision".

Many got in their vehicles and drove away from the blaze toward the coast. They encountered urban planning, or the lack of it, that included narrow streets, numerous dead ends, elongated blocks without the possibility of lateral escape, and the absence of areas that could serve as safety zones. The visiting tourists who were often not very familiar with the layout of the streets were at a particular disadvantage. The low visibility due to the smoke was another challenge. Continue reading "Report issued on one of the devastating fires near Athens, Greece"

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A report has been issued about one of the wildfires that recently burned into populated areas in Greece ( covered by Wildfire Today here). The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens distributed the document in their Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies.

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The disappearance of plants that are objectively due to climate change is visible in Portugal

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The disappearance of plants that are objectively due to climate change is visible in Portugal

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The corridor that goes from the “Farol da Guia”, in Cascais, to Cabo da Roca, in the municipality of Sintra, hides a world secret of botany.

It Is a kind of hollow seed, which has the shape of a navel and a furry shroued cover. " From the appearance of this seed, released by the plant, is the name "Omphalodes", meaning navel in Latin. The botanist who first described the genus to the scientific community (Miller, during the EIGHTEENTH century), saw in the unusual shape of the fruit the form of a navel.

Omphalodes Kuzinskyanae or Miosótis-das-Praias is a species of the family Boraginaceae and endemic Portuguese that is only in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, presenting a high risk of becoming extinct. Being an annual small plant, germinates from November to mid-February, its flowering usually occurs in March and has white-blued flowers. Omphalodes Kuzinskyanae is a harmless and herbaceous species (rarely reaches more than a height palm). Its life span is relatively short, ending in June.

This species develops in porous and sandy soils, with carbonates, as is the case of Abano ("beach"). Miosótis-das-Praias is a plant with floating populations, that is, the number of individuals varies much from year to year due to the action of man, but also to weather conditions and changes of characteristics of soils, which are very sensitive.

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It was also observed a qualitative and quantitative evolution in the populations of pests during the twentieth century. From the decade of 80, and coinciding with the progressive degradation of the ecosystem, outbreaks of Platypus Cylindrus (previously only detected in very weakened or dead trees) were detected in Portugal. At the same time, population increases were detected in Cork (Coroebus undatus), in some cases present in more than 50% of the trees, which, despite not causing death, significantly depreciates the quality of cork and its market value. In the last two years, attacks of Defoliers Periclista sp. and Lymantria have been detected in extensive areas of the south of the Tagus river. Occasional attacks of fruit destroyers (Curculio Elephas and Cydia Splendana) have also increased with impact on the natural regeneration of the cork oak tree. In Greek the impact of climate change is further evident in the massive drying of pines (e.g., in Ilia) and firs (e.g., in Chelmos and Giona). After examining dry pines in the general area of Ilia, the National Agricultural Research Foundation determined the cause to be an insect invasion brought on by the stress that many of them had undergone as a result of various factors related to climate change.

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Floral nectar is a vital resource for pollinators, thus having a very important role in ecosystem functioning. Ongoing climate warming could have a negative effect on nectar secretion, particularly in the Mediterranean, where a strong temperature rise is expected. In turn, decreased nectar secretion, together with shifts in flowering phenology can disrupt plant–pollinator interactions and consequently affect the entire ecosystem. Optimal temperatures for nectar secretion were similar to the mean temperatures in the recent past (1958–2001) during the respective flowering time of each species. Increasing temperatures, however, will affect differently the early-flowering (blooming in winter and early spring) and late-flowering species (blooming in late spring and early summer). Temperature rise expected by the end of the century will shift the average temperature beyond the optimal range for flower production and the sugar produced per plant in late-flowering species. Therefore, we expect a future decrease in nectar secretion of late-flowering species, which could reduce the amount of nectar resources available for their pollinators. Early-flowering plants will be less affected (optimal temperatures were not significantly different from the future projected temperatures), and may in some cases even benefit from rising temperatures. However, as many earlier studies have found that early-flowering species are more prone to shifts in phenology, the plant–pollinator interactions could instead become affected in a different manner. Consequently, climate warming will likely have a distinctive effect on both plant and pollinator populations and their interactions across different seasons.

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Global temperatures show an ever-increasing trend (NOAA, 2018), which is expected to have a considerable effect on numerous species, their interactions and the entire ecosystems (Parmesan and Yohe, 2003; Tylianakis et al., 2008; Traill et al., 2010). Therefore, climate warming is predicted to have a pronounced effect on Mediterranean ecosystems (Sala et al., 2000; Giorgi, 2006; Malcolm et al., 2006).

Temperature rise can affect plant species and entire communities in multiple ways, by imposing, e.g., phenological shifts (Walther, 2003; Gordo and Sanz, 2009; Bock et al., 2014), physiological temperature stress (Scaven and Rafferty, 2013; Bussotti et al., 2014), and disrupted interactions with mutualists (Memmott et al., 2007). Shifts in phenology in response to climate warming have already been widely recorded in many organism groups across the world (Parmesan, 2006; Cleland et al., 2007; Bertin, 2008; Miller-Rushing and Primack, 2008). In plants, the shifts are usually stronger in early-flowering species and less marked in late-flowering plants (Fitter and Fitter, 2002; Walther et al., 2002; Petanidou et al., 2014).

Ambient temperatures directly affect plant physiology. The optimal range of ambient temperatures for photosynthesis in Mediterranean woody plants under experimental conditions is usually around 25–30° (Flexas et al., 2014), but the optimum can also shift according to season (Medlyn et al., 2002) and be somewhat lower under field conditions (Flexas et al., 2014). Temperatures in the Mediterranean maquis (evergreen-sclerophyllous scrub) reach 35–40°C in summer, but leaf temperature can be even up to 55°C under the same conditions (Larcher, 2000). However, photosynthesis can already start progressively diminishing when leaf temperature is between 35 and 40°C (Larcher, 2000). Altogether, plants in the Mediterranean generally grow under suboptimal temperatures in winter (Larcher, 2000) and close to their optimum (Bussotti et al., 2014) or occasionally even at supra-optimal temperatures in summer (Larcher, 2000; Flexas et al., 2014). However, under future climate warming the optimal temperatures in summer might be exceeded more frequently than before (Bussotti et al., 2014).

Temperature also affects plants indirectly through processes dependent on plant photosynthetic capacity, such as flower and nectar production (Southwick, 1984; Burquez and Corbet, 1998). The effect of elevated temperatures on the number of flowers has been found ambiguous, with both increase and reduction in the number of flowers in different species, or with no change at all (Jakobsen and Kristjánsson, 1994; Liu et al., 2012; Scaven and Rafferty, 2013). A strong heat stress during flowering, however, can cause abortion of buds and open flowers and thus reduce their number (Morrison and Stewart, 2002; Wahid et al., 2007; Bykova et al., 2012). Plants can also produce more flowers without any nectar under temperature stress (Petanidou and Smets, 1996; Takkis et al., 2015). Floral nectar volume is unimodally related to temperature and the optimal temperatures generally correspond well to average ambient temperatures during the flowering season (Jakobsen and Kristjánsson, 1994; Petanidou, 2007). Moderately elevated temperatures may increase nectar secretion (Pacini and Nepi, 2007; Nocentini et al., 2013), but strongly elevated temperatures reduce it (Petanidou and Smets, 1996; Scaven and Rafferty, 2013; Takkis et al., 2015). At the same time, nectar sugar concentration is generally less variable and less affected by temperature than nectar volume (Villarreal and Freeman, 1990; Nocentini et al., 2013; Takkis et al., 2015). Altogether, under elevated temperatures, plant overall nectar secretion could be reduced through a combined negative effect of high temperatures on flower and nectar production.

Combined warming-induced changes in phenology and nectar production can alter plant–pollinator interactions through phenological mismatches and reduced nectar resources available for pollinators (Memmott et al., 2007; Hegland et al., 2009; Petanidou et al., 2014). The most likely reason for mismatches are differences in the cues used by the interaction partners, such as temperature or day length (Hughes, 2000; Bertin, 2008; Doi et al., 2008). Mismatches are more likely to occur among spring than summer species, because of stronger phenological shifts early in the season (Doi et al., 2008; Wolkovich et al., 2012; Fründ et al., 2013). The possible changes in nectar resources are still largely unknown. Consequent changes in the interaction networks can have a negative impact on both plants and pollinators, and cause population declines in both groups (Real and Rathcke, 1991; Hegland et al., 2009; Scaven and Rafferty, 2013). Nevertheless, despite the multiple expected changes, plant–pollinator interaction systems are generally considered to be relatively stable and resilient to climate change (Memmott et al., 2004; Devoto et al., 2007; Petanidou et al., 2014).

In addition to the expected temperature rise, current climate change can also alter precipitation patterns. For the Mediterranean region, different projections generally predict decreased amounts of precipitation (Giorgi and Lionello, 2008; Giannakopoulos et al., 2009; IPCC, 2013). However, the differences in precipitation can be great between adjacent localities—even during the recent hottest years on record, the precipitation patterns in the Mediterranean have been complex, with both less and more than average amounts of rainfall in different places (NOAA, 2018). Furthermore, the magnitude of changes can differ between seasons (IPCC, 2013). Due to the varied patterns of precipitation under climate change (Cook and Wolkovich, 2016), its effect on vegetation in any particular region in the future is expected to be also variable

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Plant phenology is highly controlled by climate. According the paper "
Impact of climate change on plant phenology in Mediterranean ecosystems" ( Gordo and Sanz 2010), spring events are changing more than autumn events as they are more sensitive to climate and are also undergoing the greatest alterations of climate relative to other seasons. Thus, warm and dry springs under a positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation, advance flowering, leaf unfolding and fruiting dates and lengthen the growing season.

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On the Alps there are several long-term studies about the response of vegetation due to enviromental change on high elevation (Keller F et al. 2000 and Bradley Z Carlson et al., 2017). Many of them underline that the emergence of a longer and warmer growing season enabled high-elevation plant comunities to produce more biomass and also allowed for plant colonization of habitats previously characterized by long-lasting snow cover. This situation has a negative effect on biodiversity because the niche for rare, well-adapted species is being reduced and for alteration of ecosystem services in mountain landscapes. Another important effect of climate change is the advance of the blooms, according (Defila C. and Clot B., 2005) paper in the period 1951-2002 on the Alps compared 75 observation station the spring phenophases occur 20 days in advance in the lowland and 15 days in the alpine regions. Concerning the full flowering, an advance of 32 days in the lowland and 20 days in the alpine regions was observed. The leaf unfolding occurred 12 days earlier in the lowland and 1 day later in the alpine regions than 50 years before. This study gives prominence that phenology is a good indicator of the influences of a climate warming on the development of the vegetation.

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Another consequence of climate change is the upper shift of the treeline. A long-term study (Giuliano D., et al., 2017) is in progress on the Alps, it is a Project based on multi-taxa approach, investigating the diversity of several animal groups along altitudinal gradients repeatedly in time. Monitoring herbivorous insects, in this way given the presence of a species (several insect are monophagus) it is possible indirectly to establish the movements of host plants.
The number of plant species that in the last 10 years reached the top of the European mountains increased five times over the 1957-1966 period, an acceleration linked to global warming, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Gathering data on 302 European peaks, compiled over 145 years, it is concluded that accelerating the number of species in the mountain tops is "unequivocally linked to global warming," scientists say.

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Nowadays, climate change is a phenomenon with tangible consequences. Extended dry seasons, frequent and intense storms, floods, prolonged heat waves and the increased number of mega-fires make it all the more evident. The main question we asked ourself for this paper is: "Has climate change affected any (wild or cultivated) plants in our country?". The answer is of course and there is nothing more endearing than providing actual examples.