As British Columbians prepare for the holiday season, climate change is reshaping the Christmas tree industry in unexpected ways.
As British Columbians prepare for the holiday season, climate change is reshaping the Christmas tree industry in unexpected ways.
We spoke with Dr. Sally Aitken, a forest geneticist at UBC, about why warming winters may shift which species can thrive on B.C. farms and how extreme weather is affecting the trees we bring into our homes each December.
We’re seeing several challenges. Recent droughts have made it harder to establish young trees, and the heat dome in 2021 killed or damaged young trees at many Christmas tree farms—trees that might have been coming to market now. Douglas fir, the mainstay of B.C.’s Christmas tree farms, is fairly drought-tolerant, but newly planted seedlings are still vulnerable. That early stress alone could push growers to rethink their species mix.
Read more at: University of British Columbia
Photo Credit: Omoris via Pixabay
