Alpine Plants

Alpine Plants

Listen up! Audio recordings about this subject are presented here.

From the Royal BC Museum

Listen to Botany Curator Ken Marr describing the plants of the alpine tundra and the effects of climate change on the biome.

Alpine Biome

What are the environmental conditions of the alpine tundra? RBCM

Alpine Plant Adaptations

Imagine you are an alpine plant. Describe yourself and the features that you have that help you to survive. RBCM

After the Last Ice Age

How has the landscape of British Columbia changed over the past 15,000 years? RBCM

Plant Detectives and Pollen Analysis

How do scientists determine what plants lived here thousands of years ago? RBCM

Plant Genetics

What can DNA analysis teach us about the plants in British Columbia's mountains? RBCM

Temperature and Vegetation Changes

What changes have occurred in the mountains of British Columbia in the past?  How are recent impacts of humans on climate different than climate change in the past?   RBCM

Glacial Retreat

What evidence of climate change have you seen in your work in the mountains of British Columbia? RBCM

Tree Line and Temperature

What do you think the alpine vegetation will look like in the future? RBCM


Outside Links


On United Nations’ International Mountain Day, Botany Curator Ken Marr talks with CBC’s Greogor Craigie about observing the impact of changing climate on the ecosystems above the treeline.

In 2018, Freelance science and environmental journalist Molly Segal joined Royal BC Museum scientists on a research trip in northern BC. Listen to her CBC radio story.