Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather events considered possible as the climate changes would be especially troublesome—possibly fatal—for walnut trees, according to new research.
Scientists have found that the trees are especially sensitive to particular climates. Specifically, walnuts would have difficulty tolerating droughts that could be associated with a changing climate.
Walnuts are also sensitive to cold, so much so that they have developed a defense mechanism against late frosts. They don’t begin sprouting leaves until almost a month after other trees in the spring.
That defense mechanism could be compromised by extreme weather events associated with climate change scenarios. Late spring frosts after walnuts have developed leaves could kill trees.
Read more at Purdue University