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Phelypaea tournefortii (Orobanchaceae) primarily occurs in the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and N Iran) and Turkey. This perennial, holoparasitic herb is achlorophyllous and possesses one of the most intense red flowers among all plants worldwide. It occurs as a parasite on the roots of several Tanacetum (Asteraceae) species and prefers steppe and semi-arid habitats. Climate change may affect holoparasites both directly through effects on their physiology and indirectly as a consequence of its effects on their host plants and habitats. In this study, we used the ecological niche modeling approach to estimate the possible effects of climate change on P. tournefortii and to evaluate the effect of its parasitic relationships with two preferred host species on the chances of survival of this species under global warming. We used four climate change scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, SSP5-8.5) and three different simulations (CNRM, GISS-E2, INM). We modeled the species' current and future distribution using the maximum entropy method implemented in MaxEnt using seven bioclimatic variables and species occurrence records (Phelypaea tournefortii – 63 records, Tanacetum argyrophyllum – 40, Tanacetum chiliophyllum – 21). According to our analyses, P. tournefortii will likely contract its geographical range remarkably. In response to global warming, the coverage of the species' suitable niches will decrease by at least 34%, especially in central and southern Armenia, Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan, northern Iran, and NE Turkey. In the worst-case scenario, the species will go completely extinct. Additionally, the studied plant's hosts will lose at least 36% of currently suitable niches boosting the range contraction of P. tournefortii. The GISS-E2 scenario will be least damaging, while the CNRM will be most damaging to climate change for studied species. Our study shows the importance of including ecological data in niche models to obtain more reliable predictions of the future distribution of parasitic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascophyllum nodosum is a foundation macroalgae of the intertidal zone that distributes across latitude 41.3-69.7°N. We tested the hypothesis that growth of A. nodosum near the northern distribution edge increases with warming. We retrospectively quantified the growth of eight A. nodosum populations at West Greenland and North Norway (from 64°N to 69°N). For seven populations, we measured growth rates since 1997-2002 and for one of them we extended the time series back to 1956 using published estimates. Individuals at northern populations elongated between 2.0 and 9.1 cm year and this variability correlated with temperature and annual ice-free days. A spatial comparison of A. nodosum growth across the species distribution range showed that Northern (and coldest) populations grew at the slowest rates. Our results demonstrate that arctic climate change enhances the growth of A. nodosum populations and suggest that their productivity may increase in response to projected global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floristically, Taiwan is a very rich island due to her varied geography, topography and habitats. Through extended historical research involving past and present botanical inventories of the central mountains, particularly of the Hehuanshan area of Taiwan, we are now able to examine the floristic composition of four elevation zones, 2,000-2,500 m, 2,500-3,000 m, 3,000-3,500 m, and 3,500-3,950 m. We selected four study sites, namely Shinjenkan (SJK) at 2,250-2,585 m, Shihmenshan (SMS) at 3,000 m, Hehuan East Peak (HEP) at 3,401 m, and Hehuan Major Peak (HMP) at 3,408 m, and determined their α, β, and Y diversities along with their Simpson's diversity indices. Our results clearly showed that the species richness (α diversity) was significantly high and decreased as the altitude increased. Coincidently, Simpson's diversity index at 2,250 m was significantly high at 0.85, drastically decreased to 0.17 at 3,145 m, and continued to decrease to 0.10 at both sites at 3408 m. On the other hand, by comparing plant distribution data collected over a century for the Hehuanshan, Alishan and Yushan areas, we were able to predict that plants would migrate mostly from a lower to a higher elevation when the global temperature increases. For instance, in the Hehuanshan area, 16 species would move towards higher elevations and seven species would remain in their original zone. In the Alishan area, seven species would migrate and four would remain in their original zone, and in Yushan, 15 species would migrate out of their zone and five would remain. Of all of the species, at least six risk extinction, since their expected migration would take them far beyond the limits of the land available above 3,950 m. It is concluded that the alpine vegetation will be redistributed, many plant species will move towards a higher elevation and, eventually, at least six plant species (Anaphalis morrisonicola, Artemisia morrisonensis, Swertia randaiensis, Hypericum nagasawai, Angelica morrisonicola, and Cirsium arisanensis) will become extinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]