Climate change threatens medicinal plants by altering their habitats and reducing their availability, while also affecting the concentration and efficacy of their bioactive compounds. Local adaptation strategies in cultivation and conservation are essential to sustain their medicinal and economic value despite these environmental changes.

Climate change significantly influences rare medicinal plants by altering their habitats, restricting distributions, and increasing extinction risks. Changes in temperature, rainfall, and soil conditions directly affect the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, thereby modifying the concentration and efficacy of bioactive compounds. To counter these impacts, local communities can adopt climate-smart practices such as sustainable harvesting, community-based agroforestry, controlled cultivation, and improved post-harvest processing. These strategies not only safeguard plant populations but also enhance their medicinal and economic value under changing climatic conditions.

Climate change has far-reaching implications for medicinal plants, affecting their availability, medicinal properties, and economic value. Here's a breakdown of the impacts:

Implications of Climate Change

- Availability: Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns alter the growth, distribution, and abundance of medicinal plants, potentially leading to reduced availability and increased competition for resources.

- Medicinal Properties: Climate change can modify the phytochemical composition of medicinal plants, impacting their efficacy and quality. This may result in reduced potency or altered therapeutic properties.

- Economic Value: Climate-driven changes in medicinal plant availability and quality can affect their economic value, potentially disrupting traditional medicine systems and industries that rely on these plants .

Ecological Impact

- Habitat Disruption: Climate change alters the habitats and distribution of rare medicinal plants, potentially pushing them towards extinction.

- Shifts in Distribution: Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns force medicinal plants to migrate to new areas, potentially altering ecosystem dynamics.

- Loss of Genetic Diversity: Climate change can lead to the loss of genetic diversity within medicinal plant populations, reducing their resilience and adaptability .

Medicinal Properties and Climatic Conditions

- Phytochemical Composition: Climate change affects the concentration and efficacy of medicinal substances in plants, potentially altering their therapeutic properties.

- Phenological Changes: Changes in plant phenology, such as flowering times, can impact the quality and quantity of medicinal plant materials.

Valorization and Conservation

- Sustainable Harvesting: Implementing sustainable harvesting practices can help conserve medicinal plant populations and maintain their quality.

- In-Situ and Ex-Situ Conservation: Protecting medicinal plant habitats and establishing ex-situ conservation programs can help preserve genetic diversity and promote sustainable use.

- Community-Based Approaches: Local groups can adopt climate-resilient cultivation practices, such as agroforestry and permaculture, to promote medicinal plant conservation and sustainable use.

- Biotechnology: Utilizing biotechnology, such as tissue culture and genetic engineering, can help conserve and improve medicinal plant populations .

By understanding these implications and adopting conservation strategies, we can mitigate the impacts of climate change on medicinal plants and ensure their continued availability and efficacy.

Secondary metabolites (alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolics) are stress-responsive: drought/UV can raise some compounds, heat/excess rain can dilute or alter profiles. Elevated CO₂ often boosts biomass but may lower nitrogen-rich metabolites, affecting potency. Greater variability complicates standardization, quality control, and clinical efficacy.