{"id":6412,"date":"2023-06-05T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=6412"},"modified":"2023-05-28T16:11:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-28T16:11:11","slug":"tiny-but-tenacious-arctic-alpine-plants-are-engineers-and-warning-bells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/tiny-but-tenacious-arctic-alpine-plants-are-engineers-and-warning-bells\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny but tenacious: arctic-alpine plants are engineers and warning bells"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Purple saxifrage, snow pearlwort and drooping saxifrage (left to right).\n Sarah Watts<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nSarah Watts<\/a>, University of Stirling<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

When most people consider the arctic, or high-altitude mountain landscapes, they think of endless snow, ice and bare rock. But pastel-coloured flowers, sometimes just a few millimetres wide, bloom in these dramatic places too. The miniature flowers not only weather some of the toughest habitats on Earth, but can also help engineer the landscape for other species. <\/p>\n\n

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