According to new research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), there has been a reduction in the number of native wildflowers in the California’s grassland.

For the study, researchers evaluated nearly 15 years of data on California plant diversity. They were able to discard a number of other factors as the cause of decline in this case, which include grazing, fires and the prevalence of invasive grasses.

The only thing that really explained the pattern of diversity loss was climate change specifically, the recent trend toward drier winters.

In a press release, lead author Susan Harrison, a professor at the University of California Davis said, “Fifteen years of warmer and drier winters are creating a direct loss of native wildflowers in some of California’s grasslands. Such diversity losses may foreshadow larger-scale extinctions, especially in regions that are becoming increasingly dry”.

Harrison added that the reduced diversity of wildflower species is linked to rainfall in December, January and February.

Although the wildflower loss might seem minimal, researchers said that effects could spread up the food chain. Their reduction is eliminating a key food source of insects and pollinators and hurting small animals.

California is not the only place to show the first signs of plant species loss. As the climate dries, European mountaintops are also witnessing a decline in species diversity on in recent years.

The study suggested that if climate change continued on the same trajectory, the decline can be expected elsewhere soon.