Integrating environmental variables and land use types to assess the habitat suitability and atractylodin content of two Atractylodis Rhizoma species under climate change.

INTRODUCTION: Atractylodis Rhizoma, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has significant medicinal, ecological, and scientific value; however, global climate change is altering its geographical distribution and quality. METHODS: On the basis of species occurrence data, in this study, bioclimatic, topographic, and soil variables, as well as land use types, were integrated to predict the potentially suitable habitats of Atractylodes lancea (AL) and Atractylodes chinensis (AC) in China under current and future climate scenarios, and future stable quality distribution areas were proposed. RESULTS: The results revealed that AL was influenced primarily by the precipitation of the driest quarter (Bio17), temperature seasonality (Bio4), and mean temperature of the coldest quarter (Bio11), whereas AC showed the strongest response to the precipitation of the wettest quarter (Bio16), temperature seasonality (Bio4), and precipitation of the warmest quarter (Bio18). Under current climatic conditions, AL was primarily distributed in the southern regions of the middle and lower Yangtze River Basin, whereas AC occurred mainly in the boundary areas between semiarid and arid regions, primarily in central and northeastern China. Under future climate warming scenarios, the total suitable area of AL is projected to decline and shift southeastward, whereas that of AC is projected to contract and migrate northeastward. The atractylodin content in AL was primarily associated with variables such as isothermality (Bio3) and temperature seasonality (Bio4), whereas atractylodin accumulation in AC was influenced mainly by the precipitation of the driest quarter (Bio17) and temperature seasonality (Bio4). The stable quality distribution areas of AL were primarily located in Central China, whereas those of AC were mainly distributed in North China. Under all the climate scenarios and across all the time periods considered, dryland and forestland were consistently identified as the most suitable land use types for both Atractylodis Rhizoma species. DISCUSSION: These findings may provide a scientific basis for the conservation, rational introduction, and high-quality cultivation of AL and AC, as well as for future strategies to mitigate the potential impacts of climate change on these medicinal species.