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recent study published in Science Advances,

 ecologists report that more and more trees are popping up west of where they'd typically grow.  It's as if part of American forests are actually 

Trees don't actually get up and move, of course. But "new trees tend to sprout farther north and west while the trees that are farther south and east tend to die off, shifting the geographic center of where trees live," 

It's long been documented that many plants and animals move north as the climate warms, but this is a finding that has some researchers scratching their heads. The authors hypothesize it has to do with moisture, not temperature.  

MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke to Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology — who was not an author on the paper — about what may be happening. 

Click on the audio player above to hear their conversation.

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Ecologists report that more and more trees are popping up west of where they'd typically grow. The study's authors hypothesize it has to do with moisture, not temperature.

In a recent study published in Science Advances, ecologists report that more and more trees are popping up west of where they'd typically grow.  It's as if part of American forests are actually shifting slightly westward. It's long been documented that many plants and animals move north as the climate warms, but this is a finding that has some researchers scratching their heads. The authors hypothesize it has to do with moisture, not temperature.  MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke about this with Lee Frelich. He is not an author on the paper.  But he is the director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology.

Why are trees moving west?

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