The detrimental effects of climate change have taken yet another plant life in its clutches, as the population of wildflowers native to California’s grasslands has been drastically reduced owing to the conditions of drought.

The study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has attributed this reduction in the diversity of wildflower species to drier and sunnier winters. The researchers have blamed the climate change for stressing wildflowers in a Northern California research meadow by 15% over 15 years.

The results revealed that the native wildflower species had become increasingly less diverse from 1999 to 2014 and the most susceptible species to drought were those with broad leaves. Further, the researchers correlated the 15% decline in wildflower species diversity to 50% less rain in midwinter, to 20% more sun and to a 20% drop in winter humidity.

The researchers informed that the most worrisome is the phenomenal decrease in midwinter rainfall with the total rainfall in 2013-2014, December to February being 10 inches, thus marking a downward trend for the 20 inches recorded in 1999-2000.

Susan Harrison, a plant ecologist at UC Davis and the lead author of the study commented, “There has always been like a week during January where you go around in your shirtsleeves, but those periods have been getting longer and longer and warmer and drier in the past 15 years”.

Harrison explained that California wildflowers’ seedling germinate in the cool midwinter months and requires moist soil to survive long enough and bloom, but a drier climate causes withering of the maturing wildflower which thus, die before they can reproduce.