New research led by the University of Colorado has found a causal link between climate warming and the localized extinction of Northern rock jasmine, a common flowering plant in the Rocky Mountains.

The study results could signal the potential of future species population declines in the Rocky Mountains, according to a news release.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, and found that warmer and drier conditions consistent with future climate predictions decimated experimental populations of the mountain wildflower, which is found at elevations in Colorado ranging from 6,000 feet to more than 14,000 feet.

The research was conducted at a field site in Gunnison known as the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and led by Anne Marie Panetta, a postdoctoral researcher at CU’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Study co-authors included researchers at the University of California Davis and John Harte, of the University of California Berkeley. Funding was provided by multiple parties, including the National Science Foundation.