Integrating environmental variables and biotic interactions to predict the future distribution of the endangered Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. ex Royle.

ABSTRACT: Human activities and climate change accelerate habitat loss and fragmentation, threatening medicinal plants and rare species that play important roles in maintaining ecosystem balance. However, the lack of comprehensive and reliable data on their spatial distribution has restricted effective conservation management efforts. This study provides a comprehensive ecological assessment of the endangered high-altitude medicinal plant Aconitum heterophyllum, examining its ecological interactions, environmental drivers, and projected distribution under climate change in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. A total of 129 plant taxa comprising 46 families were recorded from all sampling plots with Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae, and Polygonaceae being dominant. The most common life form was herb (88.37%),

SUBMITTER: Gillani SW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12781508 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature