AI Reveals Plants' Flowering Times Altered by Climate Crisis

Artificial intelligence has uncovered that plants globally are changing their flowering times because of the escalating climate crisis, according to a new report. A global study utilized AI to examine eight million digitized plant specimens collected over a century, finding that flowering has shifted by an average of 2.5 days earlier or later each decade. This disruption poses a significant threat to the essential relationships between plants and their pollinators.

This groundbreaking research is an example of how converting preserved plant and fungi specimens into digital records is revolutionizing conservation efforts. New technologies are being applied to vast collections to accelerate the search for climate-resilient wild relatives of food plants and to discover new medicines from preserved fungi.

The "State of the World's Plants and Fungi" report, from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, warns that threats to plant and fungi species are underestimated, with less than a fifth of plants and only 0.6% of fungi assessed for extinction risk.

Despite alarming figures, the report highlights the transformative power of AI and digitisation in boosting knowledge and enhancing conservation. Kew's project to digitise its entire herbarium and fungarium has made 7.4 million specimens freely accessible online, contributing to a global network of 145 million records.

Digitised records are crucial for discovering new species, tracking climate change impacts, and estimating species extinction. Scientists are also unlocking the secrets of fungal species for new applications, such as sustainable meat alternatives and combating pollution.