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Wetland ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), the region with the richest biodiversity and the most important ecological barrier function at high altitudes, are highly sensitive to global change, and wetland plants, which are important indicators of wetland ecosystem structure and function, are also threatened by wetland degradation. Therefore, a comprehensive study of changes in the geographical distribution pattern of plant diversity, as well as species loss and turnover of wetlands in the QTP in the context of global climate change is of great importance for the conservation and restoration of wetland ecosystems in the QTP. In this study, species turnover and loss of 395 endemic wetland plants of the QTP were predicted based on the SSP2-4.5 climate change scenarios. The results showed that there were interspecific differences in the effects of climate change on the potential distribution of species, and that most endemic wetland plants would experience range contraction. Under the climate change scenarios, the loss of suitable wetland plant habitat is expected to occur mainly in parts of the southern, north-central and north-western parts of the plateau, while the gain is mainly concentrated in parts of the western Sichuan Plateau, the Qilian Mountains, the Three Rivers Source Region and the northern Tibetan Plateau. Overlaying the analysis of priority protected areas with the established protected areas in the QTP has resulted in the following conservation gaps: the eastern Himalayan region, midstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River, the transition zone between the northern Tibetan Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains, Minshan-Qionglai mountain, Anyemaqen Mountains (southeast) to Bayankala (southeast) mountains, the southern foothills of the Qilian Mountains and the northern Tibetan Plateau region. In the future, the study of wetland plant diversity in the QTP and the optimisation of protected areas should focus on the conservation gaps. This study is of great importance for the study and conservation of wetland plant diversity in the QTP, and also provides a scientific basis for predicting the response of wetland plants to climate change in the QTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Trachycarpus nanus is a national, second-class, rare and endangered plant in China, and a plant species endemic to Yunnan. This species has a high medicinal, ecological, and scientific value, but it is currently on the verge of extinction. Therefore, it is urgent to learn its extinction risk under global warming. We predict its multi-temporal distribution pattern based on the optimized MaxEnt model. The results show that precipitation is the most important factor. In the future, drastic climatic changes and human disturbances may lead to the extinction of this species, so it is necessary to strengthen the protection of this species using specific strategies. Climate change affects the geographical distribution of plant species. Rare Trachycarpus nanus with a narrow distribution range, high medicinal value and extremely small population is facing increasing extinction risks under global climate change. In this study, 96 recorded occurrences and 23 environmental factors are used to predict the potential suitable area of T. nanus based on the optimized MaxEnt (3.4.4) model and ArcGIS (10.7) software. The results show that when the parameters are FC = LQ and RM = 1, the MaxEnt model is optimal and AUC = 0.946. The distribution patterns were predicted in the past, present, and four future phases, i.e., 2021–2040 (2030), 2041–2060 (2050), 2061–2080 (2070), and 2081–2100 (2090). The main factors are the annual precipitation (bio12), mean temperature of the coldest quarter (bio11), temperature seasonality (bio4), precipitation of the wettest quarter (bio16), and isothermality (bio3). The potential distribution of T. nanus is primarily concentrated in central Chuxiong, encompassing a total potential suitable area of 5.65 × 104 km2. In historical periods, the total habitat area is smaller than that in the present. In the future, the potential suitable area is generally increased. The centroid analysis shows that T. nanus will move to a high-altitude area and to the southeast. But its dispersal capacity may not keep up with the climate change rate. Therefore, additional protection sites for this species should be appropriately established and the habitat connectivity should be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental heterogeneity can significantly modify the rate of species extinction with an increase in anthropogenic load and the rate of recolonization of disturbed territories after a decrease in load, but this issue is poorly understood. The distribution of 14 species of the herb–dwarf shrub layer of forests on an area of 1734 km2 in two natural regions of the eastern and western macroslope of the Urals during periods of high (1995–1998) and low (2014–2016) emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter has been analyzed. With an increase or decrease in load, the pattern of dynamics and the magnitude responses are species-specific and significantly depend on habitat conditions, but the main contribution to the spaciotemporal dynamics of species affects the load level. During the period of high emissions, the environmental heterogeneity slows down the decrease in area of species distribution along a load gradient, but the distribution decreases under very heavy pollution, regardless of habitats or species. After the reduction of emissions, the distribution of most species in the heavily polluted areas has changed little for 19 years; the elimination and reduction in the distribution of the most sensitive species continues. Positive shifts have been revealed mainly in less polluted areas; the rates of recolonization vary in different habitats. Depending on habitat conditions, the species response to an increase or decrease in pressure can be "fast" (relatively high rates of change) or "slow" (lower rates of change and even a continued decline in distribution, despite reductions in pressure). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Anthropogenic introductions are known to be changing the structure of global phytogeographical regions (phytoregions), but previous studies have been limited by incomplete or biased data sets that are likely to underestimate the importance of threatened species. In this work, we analyse a comprehensive data set of all known species and their occurrences (at botanical country resolution) to quantify the impact of potential future extinction scenarios.We used Infomap, a network‐based community detection algorithm, to generate phytoregional delineations for six species‐distribution scenarios (native, introduced and extinctions of species that are either documented as threatened or likely to be threatened, as well as combinations thereof). We compared the numbers and sizes of phytoregions to characterise the amount and spatial distribution of changes in global phytoregions under each scenario.Extinctions of species that are predicted to be threatened had a greater homogenising effect on phytoregions than introductions, and there was some evidence that introductions may even mitigate the homogenisation caused by extinctions, though this interaction is complex.This research provides the first evidence that the loss of threatened species would have significant ramifications for global phytoregions and demonstrates the need to consider extinction processes in studies of anthropogenic effects on biodiversity patterns. This article is part of the Special Collection 'Global plant diversity and distribution'. See https://www.newphytologist.org/global-plant-diversity for more details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of the Special Collection 'Global plant diversity and distribution'. See https://www.newphytologist.org/global-plant-diversity for more details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of anthropocene, global warming tends to alter the distribution range of the plant species. Highly fragile to such changes are the species that are endemic, inhabit higher elevations and show narrow distribution ranges. Predicting and plotting the appropriate suitable habitats and keeping knowledge of how climate change will affect future distribution become imperative for designing effective conservation strategies. In the current study we have used BIOMOD ensemble forecasting to study the current and predict the future potential distribution of Dactylorhiza hatagirea and Rheum webbianum and describe their niche dynamics in Himalayan biodiversity hotspots under climate change scenarios using ecospat R package. Results reveal sufficient internal evaluation metrics with area under curve (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS) values greater than 0.8 i.e. 0.93 and 0.98 and 0.82 and 0.90 for D. hatageria and R. webbianum respectively, which signifies robustness of the model. Among different bioclimatic variables, bio_1, bio_3, bio_8, bio_14 and bio_15 were the most influential, showing greater impact on the potential distribution of these plant species. Range change analysis showed that both the studied species will show significant contraction of their suitable habitats under future climatic scenarios. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 for the year 2070, indicate that the suitable habitats could be reduced by about 51.41% and 70.57% for D. hatagirea and R. webbianum respectively. The results of the niche comparisons between the current and future climatic scenarios showed moderate level of niche overlap for all the pairs with D. hatageria showing 61% overlap for current vs. RCP4.5 2050 and R. webbianum reflects 68% overlap for current vs. RCP4.5 2050. Furthermore, the PCA analysis revealed that climatic conditions for both the species vary significantly between current and future scenarios. The similarity and equivalence test showed that the niche between present and future climate change scenarios is comparable but not identical. From the current study we concluded that the influence of climate change on the habitat distribution of these plant species in the Himalayan biodiversity hotspots can be considered very severe. Drastic reduction in overall habitat suitability poses a high risk of species extinction and thereby threatens to alter the functions and services of these fragile ecosystems. Present results can be used by conservationists for mitigating the biodiversity decline and exploring undocumented populations on one hand and by policymakers in implementing the policy of conservation of species by launching species recovery programmes in future on the other. The outcomes of this study can contribute substantially to understand the consequences of climate change in the Himalayan biodiversity hotspots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large‐scale patterns of biodiversity and formation have garnered increasing attention in biogeography and macroecology. The Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP) is an ideal area for exploring these issues. However, the QTP consists of multiple geographic subunits, which are understudied. The Kunlun Mountains is a geographical subunit situated in the northern edge of the QTP, in northwest China. The diversity pattern, community phylogenetic structures, and biogeographical roles of the current flora of the Kunlun Mountains were analyzed by collecting and integrating plant distribution, regional geological evolution, and phylogeography. A total of 1911 species, 397 genera, and 75 families present on the Kunlun Mountains, of which 29.8% of the seed plants were endemic to China. The mean divergence time (MDT) of the Kunlun Mountains flora was in the early Miocene (19.40 Ma). Analysis of plant diversity and MDT indicated that the eastern regions of the Kunlun Mountains were the center of species richness, endemic taxa, and ancient taxa. Geographical origins analysis showed that the Kunlun Mountains flora was diverse and that numerous clades were from East Asia and Tethyan. Analysis of geographical origins and geological history together highlighted that the extant biodiversity on the Kunlun Mountains appeared through species recolonization after climatic fluctuations and glaciations during the Quaternary. The nearest taxon index speculated that habitat filtering was the most important driving force for biodiversity patterns. These results suggest that the biogeographical roles of the Kunlun Mountains are corridor and sink, and the corresponding key processes are species extinction and immigration. The Kunlun Mountains also form a barrier, representing a boundary among multiple floras, and convert the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau into a relatively closed geographical unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming, coupled with habitat destruction and human activity, are accelerating the rates of species extinction worldwide. Species-extinction risk assessment using the IUCN Red List categories, together with the study of the spatial patterns of biodiversity, are fundamental approaches for identifying conservation priorities and targeting government decisions to mitigate impacts on biodiversity. Here, we analyzed the geographic distribution of Argentinean species of Brassicaceae using species point distributional data. In this way, we classified species following the IUCN threat categories at a regional level, and analyzed patterns of richness, endemism, and threat on the different ecoregions and biomes of the country. In addition, we also explored differences in elevation, annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, and aridity between endemic vs. non-endemic and threatened vs. non-threatened species. The results showed that of the 162 Argentinean taxa, 58 species were here categorized as threatened (VU, EN, or CR) (36%). However, when only endemics are considered, more than half of these (33 spp, 57%) are threatened. Although species inhabit all environments and biogeographic regions of the country, arid to semi-arid areas, which are associated to the Andes and the Patagonian steppe, contained most of the species. Specifically, the Central Andean Puna and the Patagonian steppe ecoregions included the greatest number of species, endemics, and threatened species. Furthermore, different hotspots of richness, endemism, and threat were detected along Andean regions and the Patagonian steppe, and endemics were characterized by inhabiting on average drier areas than non-endemic native species. An up-to-date species list, including conservation status, distribution maps for all species, hotspots of richness, endemism, and threat, are also provided. This work seeks to contribute to the knowledge on geographical patterns of the Argentinean flora and its conservation, complementing the information published in the Flora of Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Forested regions are of global importance for a multitude of ecosystem functions and services and are critical for biodiversity. Anthropogenic climate‐change compounds negative effects of land‐use change on forest persistence and forest‐dependent biodiversity. Habitat loss and climate change have an additive effect and drive species' extinctions in similar ways, resulting in a homogenization of biodiversity. Connectivity is key in conservation planning for mitigating climate change effects and facilitating species' abilities to disperse throughout remnant habitat and track their climate niches. We used three forest‐specialized and habitat‐specific bird species as focal species to understand avian connectivity and conservation of each of South Africa's three threatened forest classes, as each species is range‐restricted to its respective forest type. Location: South Africa. Methods: We created ensemble models of species' distributions and combined core home‐ and breeding‐range patches with a hybrid of least‐cost pathways and ecological circuit theory linkages to assess the success of corridors in facilitating connectivity of each of the three forest types. We then predicted the likelihood of niche persistence for each species under future climate‐change scenarios, and the efficacy of our connectivity modelling to facilitate range expansion or climate‐niche tracking. Results: The projected habitat loss under climate‐change scenarios impacted core‐habitat patch distribution, size and connectivity, exacerbated habitat fragmentation and increased resistance and the severity of pinch points and barriers along dispersal corridors. Forest systems and associated focal species projected to experience the highest levels of habitat loss/contraction occurred at mid‐ to high elevations. Climate‐change resilience across ecosystems, and persistence of species therein, was dependent on connectivity, facilitating species' ability to track specific climate niches. Main conclusions: Climate‐change resilience of ecosystems, and persistence of biodiversity therein, is most likely to be a product of high functional biodiversity, connectedness and the ability of species to track specific climate niches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subtropical islands are often viewed as refuges where Quaternary climatic shifts driving global episodes of extinction were buffered. Island biodiversity, however, may have been impacted by climatic fluctuations at local scales, particularly in spatially heterogeneous island systems. In this study, we generated a conceptual framework for predicting the potential impact of Pleistocene extinctions on the biogeographical pattern of the Canarian spermatophyte flora, with a focus on the easternmost Canarian islands (ECI). Then, we performed an exhaustive bibliographic revision (270 studies) to examine whether taxonomic, phylogenetic and phylogeographical data support our predictions. Although molecular information is limited for many lineages, the available data suggest that the majority of extant ECI plant taxa may be the result of relatively recent (<1 Ma) dispersal from surrounding insular and mainland areas. Different lines of evidence are compatible with the idea of a Pleistocene period of frequent lineage extirpation on ECI. Extinction may thus have provided new ecological opportunities for recent (re)colonization, with some cases of recent establishment mediated by facilitation. Considering background extinction on ECI, we describe five general patterns of colonization for Canarian plant lineages. In addition to factors related to island ontogeny and long‐distance dispersal, we suggest that Pleistocene extinctions may have significantly contributed to extant biogeographical patterns in the Canarian archipelago, such as the biased distribution ranges of island plants and the low endemic richness on ECI. This new scenario provides testable hypotheses for future studies dealing with the phylogeography, taxonomy and conservation of terrestrial biodiversity on the Canarian islands, and possibly, on other near‐shore islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of ecological networks is a valuable approach to understanding the vulnerability of systems to disturbance. The tolerance of ecological networks to coextinctions, resulting from sequences of primary extinctions (here termed "knockout extinction models", in contrast with other dynamic approaches), is a widely used tool for modeling network "robustness". Currently, there is an emphasis to increase biological realism in these models, but less attention has been given to the effect of model choices and network structure on robustness measures. Here, we present a suite of knockout extinction models for bipartite ecological networks (specifically plant–pollinator networks) that can all be analyzed on the same terms, enabling us to test the effects of extinction rules, interaction weights, and network structure on robustness. We include two simple ecologically plausible models of propagating extinctions, one new and one adapted from existing models. All models can be used with weighted or binary interaction data. We found that the choice of extinction rules impacts robustness; our two propagating models produce opposing effects in all tests on observed plant–pollinator networks. Adding weights to the interactions tends to amplify the opposing effects and increase the variation in robustness. Variation in robustness is a key feature of these extinction models and is driven by the structural heterogeneity of nodes (specifically, the skewness of the plant degree distribution) in the network. Our analysis therefore reveals the mechanisms and fundamental network properties that drive observed trends in robustness. We present a suite of knockout extinction models for plant–pollinator networks which we use to test the effects of extinction rules, interaction weights, and network structure on robustness. Our analysis reveals the mechanisms and fundamental network properties that drive observed trends in robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Less than 6% of the worlds described plant species have been assessed on the IUCN Red List, leaving many species invisible to conservation prioritization. Large-scale Red List assessment of plant species is a challenge, as most species' ranges have only been resolved to a coarse scale. As geographic distribution is a key assessment criterion on the IUCN Red List, we evaluate the use of coarse-scale distribution data in predictive models to assess the global scale and drivers of extinction risk in an economically important plant group, the bulbous monocotyledons. Location Global. Methods Using coarse-scale species distribution data, we train a machine learning model on biological and environmental variables for 148 species assessed on the IUCN Red List in order to identify correlates of extinction risk. We predict the extinction risk of 6439 'bulbous monocot' species with the best of 13 models and map our predictions to identify potential hotspots of threat. Results Our model achieved 91% classification accuracy, with 88% of threatened species and 93% of non-threatened species accurately predicted. The model predicted 35% of bulbous monocots presently 'Not Evaluated' under IUCN criteria to be threatened and human impacts were a key correlate of threat. Spatial analysis identified some hotspots of threat where no bulbous monocots are yet on the IUCN Red List, for example central Chile. Main conclusions This is the first time a machine learning model has been used to determine extinction risk at a global scale in a species-rich plant group. As coarse-scale distribution data exist for many plant groups, our methods can be replicated to provide extinction risk predictions across the plant kingdom. Our approach can be used as a low-cost prioritization tool for targeting field-based assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of geographic range on species persistence has long been of interest and there is a need for a better understanding of the genetic consequences for species with restricted distributions, particularly with the increasing rate of global species extinctions. However, the genetic effects of restricted range are often confounded by the impacts of population distribution. We compared chloroplast and nuclear genetic diversity and differentiation in two acacias, the restricted, patchily distributed Acacia atkinsiana and the widespread, semi-continuously distributed A. ancistrocarpa. Lower intra-population diversity and higher differentiation between populations were seen in A. atkinsiana compared to its widespread congener, A. ancistrocarpa. There was little evidence of geographical influences on population genetic structure in A. ancistrocarpa whereas A. atkinsiana exhibited nuclear genetic structure with isolation by distance, differentiation of near-coastal populations from those in the ranges, and differentiation of peripheral populations from those in the centre of the distribution. These results are consistent with expectations of the effect of geographic range and population distribution on genetic diversity, but indicate that distribution of populations rather than geographic range has influenced the observed genetic structure. The contrasting patterns observed here demonstrate that conservation approaches for species management and ecological restoration need to consider the distribution of populations in geographically restricted species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. The urgency and scale of the global biodiversity crisis requires the application of generalized predictors of a species’ likelihood of going extinct or becoming invasive in non-native areas. A common approach is to correlate species’ ecological and life-history characteristics (attributes, traits) with the probability of becoming either threatened (responding negatively to human activity), or invasive (responding positively). The limitation of previous studies is that the fates of becoming threatened or invasive have generally been treated in isolation. 2. Here we consider the problem of threat and invasiveness in unison based on analysis of one of the largest-ever species attributes data bases (8906 species) compiled for a single plant family (Fabaceae). We used generalized linear mixed-effects models (using taxonomic grouping to control for within-family phylogenetic relationships) to correlate species’ life-history and ecological traits to three response variables: probability of being (i) threatened or not, (ii) invasive or not, and (iii) threatened or invasive. 3. We found that tall, annual, range-restricted species with tree-like growth forms, inhabiting closed-forest and lowland sites are more likely to be threatened. Conversely, climbing and herbaceous species that naturally span multiple floristic kingdoms and habitat types are more likely to become invasive. 4. Synthesis. These results support the idea that at least for one of the richest plant families, species’ life-history and ecological traits correlate with a fate response to anthropogenic global change. Our results show that species do demonstrate particular susceptibility to either fate based on their evolved traits, and that traits generally correlated with invasiveness are also those that correlate with a reduced probability of becoming threatened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim We examined the range contraction of 309 declining species of animals and plants to determine if the contraction dynamics better matched predictions based on the demographic characteristics of historical populations (demographic hypothesis) or based on the contagion-like spread of extinction forces (contagion hypothesis). Location Species included in the analysis came from all biogeographic regions. Methods We obtained range maps for 309 species from literature or through personal correspondence with authorities. Hypotheses were contrasted by examining the sequence of changes in the proportion (C) of the remnant range that fell within the central region of the historical range. Monte Carlo simulations and polynomial regressions were employed to examine changes in C during the process of range contraction. Results The results of the Monte Carlo simulations indicated that more species had observed range contractions consistent with the contagion hypothesis than expected by chance (z-score = 2.922, P = 0.002). The Monte Carlo analysis also indicated that the number of species whose observed range contractions were consistent with the demographic hypothesis was no greater than expected by chance (z-score = 0.337, P = 0.367). The results of the polynomial regression analysis for the two most common taxonomic groups (mammals and birds) and for all geographical regions (Australia, Africa, Eurasia, and North America) we examined also supported the contagion hypothesis. Main conclusions Most of the examined range contractions are consistent with the contagion hypothesis and that the most likely contagion is human related disturbance. These results have important implications for the conservation of endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Climate change significantly influences changes in ecological phenomena and processes, such as species distribution and phenology, thus accelerating the rate of species extinction or prosperity. Climate change is considered to be one of the most important threats to global biodiversity in the 21st century and will pose significant challenges to biodiversity conservation in the future. The use of niche modelling to predict changes in the suitable distribution of species under climate change scenarios is becoming a hot topic of biological conservation. In this study, we use data from China's National Forest Continuous Inventory as well as specimen collection data of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook to run optimized Maxent models to predict potential suitable distribution of the species in the present day, 2050s, and 2070s under different climate change scenarios in China. In the modeling process, the most important uncorrelated variables were chosen, and the sample-size-adjusted Akaike information criterion (AICc) was used to select the optimal combination of feature type and regularization multiplier. Variable selection reduced the number of variables used and the complexity of the model, and the use of the AICc reduced overfitting. Variables relating to precipitation were more important than temperature variables in predicting C. lanceolata distribution in the optimal model. The predicted suitable distribution areas of C. lanceolata were different for the different periods under different climate change scenarios, with the centroids showing a degree of northward movement. The suitable distribution area is predicted to become more fragmented in the future. Our results reveal the climate conditions required for the suitable distribution of C. lanceolata in China and the likely changes to its distribution pattern in the future, providing a scientific basis for the sustainable management, protection, and restoration of the suitable habitat of this economically important tree species in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This preliminary review of the biogeography of the wet evergreen forests of South Asia reveals wide differences between the forests of southwest Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats. These are discussed in historical and ecological contents. Differences in flotistics and community classification are amplified by comparing the similar differences that occur in contiguous forests north and south of the Kan-gar-Pattani Line in the southern Isthmus of Kera. Although historical factors, including an ancient and continuing climatic barrier between the Ghatand Lankan wet forests are recognized, the massive effects of the presence of a dry season in the Ghats, and differences in geomorphologyand soil; are particularly stressed. Several important gaps in knowledge are identified for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of four calanoid copepod species of Boeckella in New Zealand are mapped and described. An explanation of their distribution patterns based on panbiogeographic methods is compared to an explanation based on dispersalist concepts. The panbiogeographic explanation is simpler, and is consistent with explanation of distribution patterns among other genera of plants, invertebrates, amphibians and birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]