Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya

Global climate change threatens the spatiotemporal distribution and resilience of species, especially those in mountainous regions. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, harbors one of the richest medicinal plant communities, which are economically significant and contribute to human well-bei...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fu-Lv Liu, Winnie Wanjiku Mambo, Jie Liu, Guang-Fu Zhu, Raees Khan, Abdullah, Shujaul Mulk Khan, Lu Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Global Ecology and Conservation
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005948
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832590990669512704
author Fu-Lv Liu
Winnie Wanjiku Mambo
Jie Liu
Guang-Fu Zhu
Raees Khan
Abdullah
Shujaul Mulk Khan
Lu Lu
author_facet Fu-Lv Liu
Winnie Wanjiku Mambo
Jie Liu
Guang-Fu Zhu
Raees Khan
Abdullah
Shujaul Mulk Khan
Lu Lu
author_sort Fu-Lv Liu
collection DOAJ
description Global climate change threatens the spatiotemporal distribution and resilience of species, especially those in mountainous regions. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, harbors one of the richest medicinal plant communities, which are economically significant and contribute to human well-being through their health benefits. However, our understanding of species distribution across space and time under climate change scenarios, as well as effective conservation planning for these medicinal plants in the Himalaya, remains limited. In this study, we used the biomod2 ensemble model to predict the potential habitats of ten medicinal species using 497 occurrence points and 26 environmental variables under the past, present, and two future scenarios (2090; SSP126 and SSP585). We analyzed the spatiotemporal range dynamics of the ten species, performed their threat assessment using the redlistr R package, and developed a systematic conservation plan using Zonation 4.0 software. Our results showed that the habitat of most medicinal plants in the Himalaya have expanded their habitat range from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present, with a substantial contraction projected in both future scenarios. Six species migrated northwards towards high elevation, while four species migrated southwards. Threat assessment results indicated that all the species are endangered. Our conservation planning analysis revealed that northern parts of Pakistan such as Swat, Shangla, Hazara division, Jammu, and Kashmir are the core conservation areas for these ten species. We propose establishing additional protected areas in the Himalaya particularly in the western Himalaya for better management and conservation of endangered medicinal plants.
format Article
id doaj-art-d0ff86b3a8be4f1f9a8b47363ae3790c
institution Kabale University
issn 2351-9894
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Global Ecology and Conservation
spelling doaj-art-d0ff86b3a8be4f1f9a8b47363ae3790c2025-01-23T05:27:00ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942025-01-0157e03390Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the HimalayaFu-Lv Liu0Winnie Wanjiku Mambo1Jie Liu2Guang-Fu Zhu3Raees Khan4 Abdullah5Shujaul Mulk Khan6Lu Lu7School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, and Yunnan College of Modern Biomedical Industry, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China; Corresponding author at: CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China.Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201, China; Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, ChinaDepartment of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan; Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan; Corresponding author at: Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pharmacology for Natural Products, and Yunnan College of Modern Biomedical Industry, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Corresponding author.Global climate change threatens the spatiotemporal distribution and resilience of species, especially those in mountainous regions. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, harbors one of the richest medicinal plant communities, which are economically significant and contribute to human well-being through their health benefits. However, our understanding of species distribution across space and time under climate change scenarios, as well as effective conservation planning for these medicinal plants in the Himalaya, remains limited. In this study, we used the biomod2 ensemble model to predict the potential habitats of ten medicinal species using 497 occurrence points and 26 environmental variables under the past, present, and two future scenarios (2090; SSP126 and SSP585). We analyzed the spatiotemporal range dynamics of the ten species, performed their threat assessment using the redlistr R package, and developed a systematic conservation plan using Zonation 4.0 software. Our results showed that the habitat of most medicinal plants in the Himalaya have expanded their habitat range from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present, with a substantial contraction projected in both future scenarios. Six species migrated northwards towards high elevation, while four species migrated southwards. Threat assessment results indicated that all the species are endangered. Our conservation planning analysis revealed that northern parts of Pakistan such as Swat, Shangla, Hazara division, Jammu, and Kashmir are the core conservation areas for these ten species. We propose establishing additional protected areas in the Himalaya particularly in the western Himalaya for better management and conservation of endangered medicinal plants.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005948biomod2Climate changeHimalayaMedicinal plantsRange shiftSystematic conservation planning
spellingShingle Fu-Lv Liu
Winnie Wanjiku Mambo
Jie Liu
Guang-Fu Zhu
Raees Khan
Abdullah
Shujaul Mulk Khan
Lu Lu
Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
Global Ecology and Conservation
biomod2
Climate change
Himalaya
Medicinal plants
Range shift
Systematic conservation planning
title Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
title_full Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
title_fullStr Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
title_full_unstemmed Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
title_short Spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the Himalaya
title_sort spatiotemporal range dynamics and conservation optimization for endangered medicinal plants in the himalaya
topic biomod2
Climate change
Himalaya
Medicinal plants
Range shift
Systematic conservation planning
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005948
work_keys_str_mv AT fulvliu spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT winniewanjikumambo spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT jieliu spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT guangfuzhu spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT raeeskhan spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT abdullah spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT shujaulmulkkhan spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya
AT lulu spatiotemporalrangedynamicsandconservationoptimizationforendangeredmedicinalplantsinthehimalaya