"A collection of pressed flowers taken from the hillsides of Bologna 500 years ago is unlocking knowledge about how the climate crisis and human migration is changing landscapes in northern Italy.
Picked between 1551 and 1586 by the Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the 5,000 delicately cut and dried plants form one of the richest collections of its time. ... "The data also shows the effects of the “little ice age”, which extended through to the mid-1800s. High mountain species such as the silver cranesbill are typically found more than 1,700 metres above sea level, but Cocconi found it at 800 metres above sea level. The mountain buttercup is now only found above 1,000 metres, but during the “little ice age” it was found at 300 metres."
"A collection of pressed flowers taken from the hillsides of Bologna 500 years ago is unlocking knowledge about how the climate crisis and human migration is changing landscapes in northern Italy.
Picked between 1551 and 1586 by the Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the 5,000 delicately cut and dried plants form one of the richest collections of its time.
...
"The data also shows the effects of the “little ice age”, which extended through to the mid-1800s. High mountain species such as the silver cranesbill are typically found more than 1,700 metres above sea level, but Cocconi found it at 800 metres above sea level. The mountain buttercup is now only found above 1,000 metres, but during the “little ice age” it was found at 300 metres."