New data from the summit of Maine’s tallest mountain found a slow but noticeable decline in alpine tundra habitat.

The study comes from researchers at Dartmouth and Appalachian Mountain Club, who say that both native and invasive plants found at lower and warmer altitudes are slowly encroaching on the biome across the peaks of the northeast, a process known as “greening”. Data was taken from satellite images from 1984 to 2024, as well as over 200 years of on the ground field research.

These new plants could have major effects on not just the native flora found at those heights, but also fauna like butterflies, birds, and small animals that rely on the plants.

Katahdin isn’t the only peak that’s currently “greening”, with the same thing happening at approximately 70% of mountains in the Northeast, and roughly 90% of the Northeast high alpine areas overall.

Experts like Jonathan Chipman, the co-author of the study, pins the changes on the warming climate. “These alpine zones, which have historically had very cold, extremely windy, very challenging climates for plants to survive in, that perhaps the climate is becoming more mild through this global warming process,” he said.

However global warming doesn’t paint the entire picture, as chemicals like nitrogen that blow in from air pollution act as a sort of fertilizer for the invading plants.

“We think of it as having historically caused acid rain and acidification of lakes,” Chimpan said. “But for plants in the Alpine zone, in some cases, it can actually serve as a kind of fertilizer. Certain plants are able to take advantage of this and grow faster due to it. And those plants may potentially be outcompeting others.”

To read the original Maine Public article, click here.