Climate Change Threats to Medicinal Plants: Progress in Impact Assessments and Implications for Pharmaceutical Sustainability

With the intensification of global climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, medicinal plants are facing unprecedented challenges to their survival environments. Understanding the impacts of ecological threats on medicinal plants is crucial for formulating conservation strategies and ensuring the sustainable utilization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) resources. This study employed a scoping review methodology to systematically search databases including CNKI, Wanfang Data, and PubMed, incorporating both the Chinese and English literature. A conceptual map was constructed to analyze the response mechanisms, distribution changes, and conservation status of medicinal plants under ecological threats. The review synthesizes evidence from 65 articles retrieved from both the Chinese and international literature. Our mapping reveals that (1) ecological threats are extensively documented, with habitat loss and climate change being the primary drivers; (2) the responses of medicinal plants are mainly manifested as population decline, range shifts, and alterations in secondary metabolites; (3) current conservation efforts focus heavily on ex situ protection, while research on climate change adaptation management remains insufficient. This study systematically outlines the current research landscape regarding medicinal plants under ecological threats, revealing the characteristics and gaps in existing evidence. Future research should strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, focusing on adaptive evolution and ecological restoration technologies to address the escalating environmental challenges.