It has long been believed that mistletoe grows in Switzerland only in areas at altitudes below 1000 meters above sea level.
A scientist from the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) has however found specimens of pine mistletoe at altitudes of up to 1500 meters. It is a direct consequence of global warming. The climate has warmed considerably during the previous century. In Switzerland, the increase in temperatures was then much more marked than for the world average: in the last 30 years alone, temperatures have increased by 1,5 degrees in the country. Over the past 100 years, the altitude limit of the range of pine mistletoe has increased by at least 250 meters on average. This emerges from a comparison with a study carried out in 1910.
contacts:
- Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)
- http://www.wsl.ch
- Andreas Rigling - WSL - tel: +41 1 739 25 93
Sources: "Global warming: Mistletoe conquers areas with
ever higher altitude ”- Institute press release
Federal Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), 09 / 02 / 2005
; "The mistletoe conquers higher altitudes" - ATS - Le Temps,
10/02/2005