Are Medicinal Plants at Risk Due to Climate Change?

 

Is climate change affecting medicinal and aromatic plants to the point that it may ultimately lead to losses of some key species?  According to a recent article published by the American Botanical Council, the answer – based on research, observations and opinions of conservationists and medicinal plant researchers – may be yes.

In the cover article of the latest issue of HerbalGram (the quarterly journal of the American Botanical Council), entitled “The Effects of Climate Change on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants,” which is based on recent climate change research and the perspectives of 15 scientific researchers, medicinal plant conservation experts and others, the article suggests that species endemic to regions or ecosystems that are especially vulnerable to climate change (such as Arctic and alpine regions), could be most at risk.

The article explores the effects of climate change which seems to be impacting plants – including medicinal – throughout the entire world. For example, climate change has led to shifts in seasonal timing and/or ranges for many plants, which could ultimately endanger some wild medicinal populations. Also, extreme weather events have begun to impact the production and harvesting of various medicinal plants around the world. For instance, abnormally hot summers have prevented reseeding of medicinal plants such as chamomile in Germany and Poland, and increasingly severe flooding in Hungary has reduced harvests of fennel and anise.

An excerpt of the article was published in the December 2008 issue of Nutrition Business Journal, and a synopsis of the article will be published in an upcoming issue of World Conservation.