Climate change threatens vanilla: a taste threatens to disappear!

Climate change threatens vanilla: a taste threatens to disappear!

Mittelamerika, Mittelamerika - The vanilla, a popular taste in numerous foods, faces serious challenges due to climate change. Current research by the University of Leuven and the University of Costa Rica, published in "Frontiers in Plant Science", emphasizes that the habitats of the vanilla plants are dramatically changing in the course of increasing climate extreme. These developments could threaten global vanilla production, such as Exxpress.at reported.

A central problem is the possible decoupling of plants and their pollinators. In tens of thousands of years, vanilla plants and the bee species pollinating them have adapted. However, future changes could cause these habitats to hardly overlap and thus significantly reduce pollination.

climate scenarios and their effects

The study analyzes eleven neotropic vanilla species and seven bees under two different climate scenarios by 2050. In the first, moderate scenario with climate protection measures, some vanilla species could expand their habitats. In contrast, the other scenario, which is characterized by more conflicts and less global climate protection, threatens a large part of the species a decline of more than 50 percent. The bee crates in particular are susceptible because suitable habitats decrease in this negative scenario, which also endangers pollination.

The special Art Vanilla Inodora grows exclusively in fog forests and damp regions, while other species thrive in hot, dry areas. However, their survival is closely associated with specific pollinators, which makes the existence of vanilla plants complicated in a changing environment. The prognosis is particularly alarming that the overlap of habitats of plants and insects could shrink between 60 and 90 percent, which represents a significant threat to the plants, as well as Consumer Protection Forum shown.

consequences for agriculture and the vanilla market

The reduced genetic variety of commercially used vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia) makes it particularly susceptible to diseases and climatic extreme events. Hertworting could have similar effects on vanilla products as on other agricultural products, such as coffee, chocolate and olive oil. These links to other foods are crucial because they underline the relevance of vanilla in global nutrition.

authors of the study require increased international cooperation and further research to secure the resilience of vanilla cultivation and to protect the livelihood of small farmers in tropical regions. These measures are essential to ensure the survival of the vanilla plants and their pollinators in a changing world, as well as Science.de