{"id":170075,"date":"2025-06-16T16:04:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T22:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=170075"},"modified":"2025-06-16T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T22:04:47","slug":"how-do-plants-resist-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/climate-and-sustainability\/how-do-plants-resist-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Plants Deploy a Wide Range of Strategies to Survive Climate-Driven Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the planet warms due to climate change<\/a>, plants\u2014rooted in place and unable to flee adverse conditions\u2014activate a wide range of responses to heat stress. A special issue of Science<\/em> examines how extreme temperatures affect plants across multiple biological scales, from molecules and cells to entire populations, communities, and ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collection of studies reveals that plants have developed a comprehensive \u201ctoolkit\u201d for heat resistance, comprising physiological and cellular mechanisms to cool down and repair damage, genetic changes that enable long-term adaptation, and, in some cases, the ability to spread into new, more favorable environments. However, many of these mechanisms remain only partially understood. Their complex interactions make it difficult to predict how ecosystems will respond to future warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photosynthesis\u2014at the core of carbon fixation and primary productivity in most ecosystems\u2014is among the processes most sensitive to heat. High temperatures destabilize proteins involved in this process, reduce energy efficiency, and may trigger oxidative stress. This vulnerability poses a direct threat to the productivity of key crops, such as rice, wheat, and corn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temperature shifts also disrupt the intricate relationships between plants and their microbiomes: communities of microorganisms that live in the roots, on the leaves, or in the surrounding soil. These microbes play a vital role in helping plants absorb nutrients and tolerate stress. But as the heat alters their composition and function, plant health can be indirectly compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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