Impacts of permafrost degradation on the richness of human-used plant species in the High Mountain Asia
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Approximately 36% of human-used plant species richness is distributed in permafrost areas.
An obvious elevation-dependent pattern is found in future changes of plant species richness.
Effects of bioclimatic, permafrost and snow cover on the plant richness are 40%, 29% and 13%, respectively.
Our priority strategies will increase the conservation efficiency to 68%-79%.
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ABSTRACT
Climate warming has accelerated the melting of cryosphere, substantially affecting the plants biodiversity in global cold regions. However, the spatiotemporal patterns of human-used plants and their responses to climate change remain uncertain. Here, by synthesizing 3,716 investigated plant species from ten use categories in the High Mountain Asia, we show that the potential distribution area of human-used plants species richness is 4.6 ± 0.2 million km2, of which 36% is located in permafrost areas. The change in plant species richness shows an obvious elevation-dependent pattern, and this is most obvious in permafrost regions. The area of regions with increasing species richness of human-used plants is projected to increase by 74%-89% by 2050 under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Among them, bioclimatic factors, permafrost and snow cover have the greatest impacts on species richness, with respective standardized effects of 40%, 29% and 13%. Based on the conservation gaps of human-used plants, our proposed priority protection strategies will increase conservation efficiency to 68%-79% relative to current natural reserves. These findings highlight the cryosphere melting substantially influences plant biodiversity, and underscore the urgent need to integrate these impacts into the Convention on Biological Diversity. -
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Song J., Mu C., Mu M., et al. (2026). Impacts of permafrost degradation on the richness of human-used plant species in the High Mountain Asia. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100221. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100221
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Song J., Mu C., Mu M., et al. (2026). Impacts of permafrost degradation on the richness of human-used plant species in the High Mountain Asia. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100221. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100221
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Figure 1.
Sample distribution of human-used plants in the High Mountain Asia region
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Figure 2.
Distribution of human-used plant species richness
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Figure 3.
Future human-used plant species richness
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Figure 4.
Changes in human-used plant species richness with elevation
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Figure 5.
Environmental determinants of human-used plant species richness
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Figure 6.
Contributions of various environmental variables to the human-used plant species richness
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Figure 7.
Distribution of conservation gaps and implementation effects of strategies
