Abstract
Background: and aims Climate change affects global biodiversity, and species such as desiccation-tolerant vascular plants (DT plants) remain largely neglected in conservation objectives and individual initiatives, West Africa is no exception. Our study aims to assess the impact of climate change on DT plant distribution and diversity in West Africa. Material: and methods In this study, we use all DT plants described to West Africa and their occurrences, and employ species distribution models to depict changes in their distribution and diversity when comparing present and future climate change conditions. Key results We identified a consistent contraction of DT plants’ distribution ranges and a significant shrinkage of their centres of diversity and endemism. Conclusion: It is imperative that future research and on-the-ground conservation efforts should focus on species-specific conservation needs, including closely monitoring DT species with small distribution ranges and assessing the conservation requirements of DT species with broad distribution ranges. It should also be stressed the urgency of integrating climate projections into the conservation planning of DT plants worldwide to ensure that effective conservation strategies include the expansion of protected areas specifically designed to improve stewardship of conserved DT plants.
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ARPHA Preprints
https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e176190 (28 Oct 2025)
https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e176190 (28 Oct 2025)
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ARPHA Preprints
doi:
10.3897/arphapreprints.e176190
First posted
28 Oct 2025
Authors
Wassila Ibrahim Seidou
- Corresponding author
UFR Biosciences, University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan P.O. Box 582, Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
The Red List Project , Oakland, United States of America
Department of Botany, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany, Rostock, Germany
Department of Botany, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany, Rostock, Germany
UFR Biosciences, University Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan P.O. Box 582, Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Luiz Bondi
- Corresponding author
Department of Botany, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany, Rostock, Germany
Conflict of interest
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Supporting agencies
WASCAL - West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use
This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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