Unraveling the Effects of Climate Change and Human Activity on Potential Habitat Range Shifts in Four Symplocos Species in China

Climate change and human activities profoundly impact forest biodiversity, with effects projected to intensify. The Symplocos genus, a diverse assemblage of flowering plants prevalent in the subtropical and tropical forests of the Yangtze River in China, holds substantial economic and medicinal value. However, the impacts of climate change and human activities on the habitat ranges of Symplocos species in China remain unclear. This study employed an optimized Maxent model to predict potential habitats for four key Symplocos species—Symplocos setchuensis, Symplocos chinensis, Symplocos groffii, and Symplocos sumuntia under current and multiple future climate scenarios (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 during the 2070s and 2090s). Moreover, we assessed the relative importance of various predictors, including climatic, topographic, soil, and anthropogenic factors, in shaping their habitat range patterns. Currently, the habitat ranges of the four Symplocos species are mainly concentrated in southern China, exhibiting notable differences in areas of high habitat suitability. Furthermore, the habitat ranges of S. setchuensis, S. chinensis, S. groffii, and S. sumuntia were primarily influenced by the mean temperature of the driest quarter (bio9), the minimum temperature of the coldest month (bio6), the temperature annual range (bio7), and precipitation seasonality (bio15), respectively. Notably, the habitat suitability of S. setchuensis, and S. sumuntia increased at a progressively slower rate with human footprint. Under future climate scenarios, S. groffii and S. sumuntia are projected to expand their ranges significantly northward, while S. chinensis is expected to maintain stable habitat, and S. setchuensis may face considerable contractions. Our results underscore the importance of climate and human activities in shaping the habitat ranges of Symplocos species, revealing distinct adaptive responses among the four species under future climate change.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Plants

• Publication date

  2025-10-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/plants14203200PMID 41157757PMCID 12567360
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Religious uses shape the selection and distribution of Chinese Buddhist tree species

  2025cited by this paper
• Contrasting range changes and drivers of four forest foundation species under future climate change in China.

  2024cited by this paper
• Projected impacts of climate change on the habitat of Xerophyta species in Africa

  2023cited by this paper
• Not the expected poleward migration: Impact of climate change scenarios on the distribution of two endemic evergreen broad-leaved Quercus species in China.

  2023cited by this paper
• Distributional responses to climate change of two maple species in southern China

  2023cited by this paper
• Changes in the Potential Habitat Distribution of Typical Fire-Resistant Forest Species under Climate Change in the Subtropical Regions of China

  2023cited by this paper
• Human activity and climate change accelerate the extinction risk to non‐human primates in China

  2023cited by this paper
• Human activities and species biological traits drive the long-term persistence of old trees in human-dominated landscapes

  2023cited by this paper
• Global assessment of the distribution and conservation status of a key medicinal plant (Artemisia annua L.): The roles of climate and anthropogenic activities.

  2022cited by this paper
• In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Symplocos sumuntia Buch.-Ham. Ex D. Don Extract via Blockage of the NF-κB/JNK Signaling Pathways in LPS-Activated Microglial Cells

  2022cited by this paper
• Potential Global Distribution of Invasive Alien Species, Anthonomus Grandis Boheman, under Current and Future Climate Using Optimal MaxEnt Model

  2022influential reference
• Identification of potential distribution area for Hippophae rhamnoides subsp. sinensis by the MaxEnt model

  2022cited by this paper
• Predicting plant species distributions using climate‐based model ensembles with corresponding measures of congruence and uncertainty

  2022cited by this paper
• CMIP6 Simulations With the CMCC Earth System Model (CMCC‐ESM2)

  2022cited by this paper
• Making climate projections conditional on historical observations

  2021cited by this paper
• Upward shift and elevational range contractions of subtropical mountain plants in response to climate change.

  2021cited by this paper
• The impact of climate change on the distribution of Castanopsis (Fagaceae) species in south China and Indo-China region

  2021cited by this paper
• Predicting the current and future distributions of Brontispa longissima (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) under climate change in China

  2021influential reference
• Elevation and aspect determine the differences in soil properties and plant species diversity on Himalayan mountain summits

  2021cited by this paper
• Current and future distribution of the deciduous shrub Hydrangea macrophylla in China estimated by MaxEnt

  2021influential reference
• Response of leaf morphological traits of relict-endemic Symplocos species (S. coccinea and S. speciosa) to elevation and abiotic fluctuations

  2021cited by this paper
• Potential distributional shifts in North America of allelopathic invasive plant species under climate change models

  2021influential reference
• Potential habitat and productivity loss of Populus deltoides industrial forest plantations due to global warming

  2021cited by this paper
• Want to model a species niche? A step-by-step guideline on correlative ecological niche modelling

  2021cited by this paper
• Potential distribution of Abies, Picea, and Juniperus species in the sub-alpine forest of Minjiang headwater region under current and future climate scenarios and its implications on ecosystem services supply

  2021cited by this paper
• Prediction of the suitable distribution of Eucalyptus grandis in China and its responses to climate change

  2021influential reference
• Presentation and Evaluation of the IPSL‐CM6A‐LR Climate Model

  2020cited by this paper
• Configuration and spin-up of ACCESS-CM2, the new generation Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator Coupled Model

  2020cited by this paper
• Integrating Maxent model and landscape ecology theory for studying spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat: Suggestions for conservation of endangered Red-crowned crane

  2020cited by this paper
• Predicting the current and future distribution of three Coptis herbs in China under climate change conditions, using the MaxEnt model and chemical analysis.

  2020cited by this paper
• Earth transformed: detailed mapping of global human modification from 1990 to 2017

  2020cited by this paper
• Recent responses to climate change reveal the drivers of species extinction and survival

  2020cited by this paper
• GISS‐E2.1: Configurations and Climatology

  2020cited by this paper
• Tropical forest management altered abundances of individual tree species but not diversity

  2020cited by this paper
• Employing inferences across scales: Integrating spatial data with different resolutions to enhance Maxent models

  2020cited by this paper
• Model complexity affects species distribution projections under climate change

  2019cited by this paper
• The Role of Soil pH in Plant Nutrition and Soil Remediation

  2019cited by this paper
• Impact of climate factors on future distributions of Paeonia ostii across China estimated by MaxEnt

  2019cited by this paper
• CONTRIBUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS TOWARD DISTRIBUTION OF TEN MOST DANGEROUS WEED SPECIES GLOBALLY

  2019cited by this paper
• Climate change jointly with migration ability affect future range shifts of dominant fir species in Southwest China

  2019cited by this paper
• Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery

  2019cited by this paper
• The potential global distribution and dynamics of wheat under multiple climate change scenarios.

  2019cited by this paper
• The Meteorological Research Institute Earth System Model Version 2.0, MRI-ESM2.0: Description and Basic Evaluation of the Physical Component

  2019cited by this paper
• MaxEnt Modeling to Predict Current and Future Distributions of Batocera lineolata (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) under Climate Change in China

  2019cited by this paper
• Human activities have opposing effects on distributions of narrow-ranged and widespread plant species in China

  2019cited by this paper
• Responses of four dominant dryland plant species to climate change in the Junggar Basin, northwest China

  2019influential reference
• Climate change impacts on boreal forest timber supply

  2018cited by this paper
• The Beijing Climate Center Climate System Model (BCC-CSM): the main progress from CMIP5 to CMIP6

  2018cited by this paper
• How much does climate change threaten European forest tree species distributions?

  2018cited by this paper
• Predicting the distribution of Stipa purpurea across the Tibetan Plateau via the MaxEnt model

  2018cited by this paper
• Assessing Accuracy Methods of Species Distribution Models : AUC , Specificity , Sensitivity and the True Skill Statistic

  2018influential reference
• Expanding, shifting and shrinking: The impact of global warming on species’ elevational distributions

  2018cited by this paper
• New insights into the cellular mechanisms of plant growth at elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

  2018cited by this paper
• Spatial distribution patterns of Symplocos congeners in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaf forest of southern China

  2018cited by this paper
• Global land change from 1982 to 2016

  2018cited by this paper
• Chemical Constituents of Symplocos setchuensis

  2018cited by this paper
• A Higher‐resolution Version of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI‐ESM1.2‐HR)

  2018cited by this paper
• Widespread winners and narrow-ranged losers: Land use homogenizes biodiversity in local assemblages worldwide

  2018cited by this paper
• Modelling species habitat suitability from presence-only data using kernel density estimation

  2018cited by this paper
• Description and basic evaluation of simulated mean state, internal variability, and climate sensitivity in MIROC6

  2018cited by this paper
• Planning for conservation and restoration under climate and land use change in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

  2017cited by this paper
• SoilGrids250m: Global gridded soil information based on machine learning

  2017cited by this paper
• The influence of climate change on an endangered riparian plant species: The root of riparian Homonoia

  2017cited by this paper
• Divergence of species responses to climate change

  2017cited by this paper
• Climatic-Induced Shifts in the Distribution of Teak (Tectona grandis) in Tropical Asia: Implications for Forest Management and Planning

  2017cited by this paper
• The seasonal climate niche predicts phenology and distribution of an ephemeral annual plant, Mollugo verticillata

  2017cited by this paper
• The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their energy, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions implications: An overview

  2017cited by this paper
• Potential ornamental plants in Symplocaceae from China

  2017cited by this paper
• Investigation of anti-inflammatory lignans from the leaves of Symplocos sumuntia Buch-Ham ex D Don (Symplocaceae)

  2017cited by this paper
• Predictions of potential geographical distribution and quality of Schisandra sphenanthera under climate change

  2016cited by this paper
• A review of precipitation and temperature control on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest regeneration

  2016cited by this paper
• Opportunities for biodiversity gains under the world's largest reforestation programme

  2016cited by this paper
• Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009

  2016cited by this paper
• Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization

  2015cited by this paper
• Human pressures predict species’ geographic range size better than biological traits

  2015cited by this paper
• The use of ROC and AUC in the validation of objective image fusion evaluation metrics

  2015influential reference
• Rapoport's Rule: do climatic variability gradients shape range extent?

  2015cited by this paper
• Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants

  2015cited by this paper
• Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity

  2015cited by this paper
• Trait‐based analysis of decline in plant species ranges during the 20th century: a regional comparison between the UK and Estonia

  2015cited by this paper
• Alternative forest management strategies to account for climate change-induced productivity and species suitability changes in Europe

  2015cited by this paper
• Making better Maxent models of species distributions: complexity, overfitting and evaluation

  2014cited by this paper
• Identifying the driving factors behind observed elevational range shifts on European mountains

  2014cited by this paper
• Comparison of habitat suitability models using different habitat suitability evaluation methods

  2014cited by this paper
• bioclim: the first species distribution modelling package, its early applications and relevance to most current MaxEnt studies

  2014cited by this paper
• Spatial filtering to reduce sampling bias can improve the performance of ecological niche models

  2014cited by this paper
• ENMeval: An R package for conducting spatially independent evaluations and estimating optimal model complexity for Maxent ecological niche models

  2014influential reference
• Range size and climatic niche correlate with the vulnerability of epiphytes to human land use in the tropics

  2013cited by this paper
• Maxent modeling for predicting the potential distribution of medicinal plant, Justicia adhatoda L. in Lesser Himalayan foothills

  2013influential reference
• The rice RING finger E3 ligase, OsHCI1, drives nuclear export of multiple substrate proteins and its heterogeneous overexpression enhances acquired thermotolerance

  2013cited by this paper
• Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models

  2013cited by this paper
• Topography as a driver of local terrestrial vascular plant diversity patterns

  2013cited by this paper
• Importance of regional climates for plant species distribution patterns in moist Afromontane forest

  2013cited by this paper
• Forecasting species ranges by statistical estimation of ecological niches and spatial population dynamics

  2012influential reference
• The role of biotic interactions in shaping distributions and realised assemblages of species: implications for species distribution modelling

  2012cited by this paper
• Changes in the potential distribution of humid tropical forests on a warmer planet

  2011cited by this paper
• Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming

  2011cited by this paper
• The Pace of Shifting Climate in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems

  2011cited by this paper
• Forest fragmentation drives Atlantic forest of northeastern Brazil to biotic homogenization

  2011cited by this paper
• Beyond Predictions: Biodiversity Conservation in a Changing Climate

  2011cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.