Old air samples hint at effects of climate change

Source: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/old-air-samples-hint-effects-climate-change Parent: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/category/sustainability

Published 26 November 2025

Samples that were collected specifically to trace radioactive fallout are now being used to reveal how climate change affects mosses in the north. (Photo: Nils Cronberg)

Through the DNA analysis of old air samples collected by the Swedish Armed Forces, researchers at Lund University in Sweden can show that spore dispersal of northern mosses has shifted over the past 35 years. It now starts several weeks earlier, revealing how quickly nature’s calendar can reset in line with a warmer climate.

When the Swedish military began collecting air samples in the 1960s to register radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing, it is highly unlikely that anyone was thinking about moss. However, the glass fibre filters on which the samples were saved also captured something completely unintended – namely DNA from pollen, spores and other biological particles. This discovery was made by researcher Per Stenberg of Umeå University.

“The samples have proved to be an unexpected, unique and very exciting archive of DNA from wind-dispersed biological particles,” says Nils Cronberg, researcher in botany at Lund University. \

Moss spores are being released earlier in spring (Illustration: Fia Bengtsson)

The researchers have studied how the dispersal period of airborne moss spores has changed over a 35-year period for 16 different moss species and groups. The results show that the spore dispersal of the mosses starts on average four weeks earlier and culminates six weeks earlier than in 1990.

“It’s a considerable difference, especially considering that summer is so short in the north,” says Nils Cronberg.

Warmer autumns mean that the mosses’ spore capsules have a longer time to develop before the onset of winter – a biological kick-start that enables the spores to be released earlier in the spring. But perhaps what is most surprising is that it is not the current spring weather that controls the timing of spore dispersal.

Warmer autumns mean that the mosses’ spore capsules have a longer time to develop before the onset of winter. (Photo: Nils Cronberg)

“We had expected that snow thaw or air temperature in the same year as spore dispersal would be crucial, but climate conditions the year before were shown to be the most important factor,” says Fia Bengtsson, formerly a researcher in botany at Lund University, who is now at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

In addition to showing how fast climate change affects ecosystems, the study paves the way for a completely new method for understanding biological changes over time. The same type of DNA analysis can also be conducted for other plant and animal groups. As the collection points are all over Sweden, the researchers can follow developments back in time through the decades – from north to south.

“We anticipate that our results and knowledge about how nature has changed from the 1970s onwards will be part of the next report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the documented effects of climate change,” concludes Nils Cronberg.

Publication:

Link to the article in Journal of Ecology:\ \ Rapid shifts in bryophyte phenology revealed by airborne eDNA

Contact:

\ Nils Cronberg, researcher

Department of Biology

+46 70 369 10 63

nils [dot] cronberg [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (nils[dot]cronberg[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se)

About the study:

The study is a collaboration between Lund University (Nils Cronberg, Fia Bengtsson; now at NINA, Trondheim, Norway and Johan Ekroos; now at the University of Helsinki, Finland) and a team at Umeå University led by Per Stenberg that carried out the molecular analysis. The project was funded by a grant from the strategic research area, BECC (Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate).

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