Cover | Special Issue on Karst biodiversity
June 2025 Cover
Photograph by Jian Huang
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The image captures the stunning karst landscape of Babao Town, Guangnan County, Yunnan Province, a region renowned for its rich karst biodiversity. The area's unique karst formations create diverse microhabitats that support a wide array of plant species, many of which are specially adapted to the karst environment. Conservation efforts in such biodiversity hotspots are crucial, as karst systems worldwide face threats from habitat fragmentation, pollution, and climate change, highlighting the need to protect these irreplaceable natural treasures.
Read the Editorial in Nordic Journal of Botany, by Li (2025): Exploring karst biodiversity: ecological, evolutionary, and conservation perspectives.
Summary:
This special issue synthesises recent research highlighting the biodiversity, ecological complexity, and conservation importance of karst ecosystems worldwide. Karst landscapes—formed through the dissolution of soluble rocks—harbor exceptional levels of endemism and specialized adaptations, yet face increasing threats from human activities and climate change. The contributions in this issue document newly discovered plant species, investigate ecological interactions and genetic diversity, and analyze distribution patterns and evolutionary relationships across karst regions. Together, these studies demonstrate the critical role of taxonomic, ecological, and phylogenetic research in improving our understanding of karst flora and emphasize the urgency of conserving these unique and fragile ecosystems.
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