Serbia: Pancic spruce at risk of extinction due to global warming

DW (English)

The Pancic spruce is a coniferous tree that only grows naturally in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and has been thriving there for about 22 million years. It survived the last ice age, but will it survive global warming?

Transcript

00:00Forests are not only beautiful, they can also slow down the rise in global temperatures.

00:05So, with temperatures currently almost 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than they were in the late 19th century,

00:11forests have never been more important.

00:14But it's a vicious circle, because it's precisely climate change

00:17that could have an irreversible impact on the world's forest ecosystems.

00:21The pancic spruce is a coniferous tree that only grows naturally in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

00:27Named after the Serbian botanist Jozef Pančić,

00:30it can be found there in an area covering about 200 square kilometers.

00:34Here in the Tara National Park in western Serbia,

00:37there are only an estimated 10,000 such trees left.

00:45This tree is a living fossil, which means that it bears a very close resemblance

00:49to the pancic spruces that grew here about 22 million years ago.

00:53Because of the thin core system, it is important to them,

00:58and it is important to them, a large amount of falls.

01:01If they get dry, their core system does not have the opportunity to keep the wind blowing,

01:08and after the wind blowing, the waves fall down.

01:15Right now, in the current heat wave, drought seems inevitable.

01:20The fear is really here, and the danger is real.

01:25In the sense that the change of the middle-year temperatures

01:30is from 1.2 to 1.5 degrees for only 50 years.

01:35I can't find a word that would describe how alarming it is.

01:39In addition to being a strictly protected rare species,

01:43scientists say that the pancic spruce is also a pioneer species.

01:47It is the first to colonize land destroyed by natural disasters,

01:51preparing the ground for the growth of other species.

01:54It can live for over 200 years, but could disappear in just 50,

01:58because it is trapped in its current habitat.

02:01Scientific advisor Jelena Aleksic, from the Institute for Medical Research in Belgrade,

02:06researches the genetics of these trees.

02:09The temperature is increased so that they can increase the temperature

02:12to higher temperatures, where it is colder,

02:14or to migrate to the south.

02:16Unfortunately, in the areas where the mountains are currently growing,

02:19there are no spaces, the mountains are not at the height,

02:23and there is no place to migrate.

02:25It is also possible to migrate to the south,

02:29because there are other species of agricultural land and so on.

02:35So, in my opinion,

02:37it is that it can live here in its natural habitat

02:41for maybe 50 or 100 years.

02:44In short, saving the panchic spruce is a race against time.

02:48The Tara National Park already has two nurseries where panchic spruces are grown.

02:53Another peculiarity of this tree is that there is no communication between plants,

02:57no exchange of seeds or pollen.

02:59This means that each population in a specific habitat has a unique genetic structure.

03:04Aleksic says that in light of climate change,

03:07a genetic approach is the only way to preserve the spruce.

03:11Every activity that is related to the preservation of the forest

03:15must be based on genetic data.

03:18So, if there are new plants,

03:21they must be established their genetic structure,

03:24and only those that are related to the high genetic diversity

03:27can be brought back to the natural populations.

03:30Her team has determined that despite the small number of seedlings

03:34and suitable locations,

03:36the spruce still has high genetic diversity

03:38and thus a significant chance of survival.

03:41Biologist Branko Jotic says that the nursery is one way of keeping the spruce alive.

03:46Jelena Aleksic believes there are other options too.

03:50We have to consider strategies that if we want to preserve them,

03:55we will preserve them in another place.

03:57Those other locations will be determined by climate simulations for the next hundred years,

04:02which Aleksic and her team are about to carry out.

04:05They are optimistic that this approach will save the pancic spruce.

04:09The tree could, for example, be relocated to Finland,

04:13which has suitable conditions for such species of tree.

04:16Whatever the solution,

04:18experts are determined to help the pancic spruce

04:21– considered a national treasure in both Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina –

04:25survive our changing climate.

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04:44in the present day

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