What kills the virtually immortal palms of the Florida scrub?

Both palmettos had exceptionally low mortality rates, which coupled with earlier work showing slow rates of transition from seedling to adult and remarkable adult longevity, suggest notably low rates of population turnover. Observed mortality in long-unburned habitats suggests the importance of fire-management planning with prescription burning. Lengthy age to reproduction and/or dependency on clonal propagation limits migration or genetically adaptation to altered conditions caused by climate change. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.