The high-mountain ecosystems of Central Asia are a biodiversity hotspot with unique plant communities and many endemic species. Intense human pressure and global warming have caused habitat destruction in these areas and a parallel increase in the number of endangered species. Lagochilus species are key medicinal herbaceous plants native to Central Asia, many of which have been recently added to the endangered of species in Uzbekistan.

To assess the climate sensitivity of Lagochilus species, we (1) located populations of six species in their native sites across Uzbekistan, and assessed their health by partitioning to ontogenetic stages along five consecutive years; (2) collected plant materials from these species, as well as from old herbarium samples (1918–1964); and (3) analyzed the carbon-13 composition in those samples, as an indicator for drouht stress.

Over the course of five years (2014–2018) of continuous monitoring, fluctuations in annual precipitation in the region indicated a decrease by ∼20 %, and the fraction of young plants in each population decreased from 20–50% to 0–5 %, depending on the species. Comparing the carbon-13 composition in current and historical leaf samples showed an increase of 1.5–3.5‰ associated with a decrease in precipitation of 2–30 %, depending on the site and species.

Our results show the high sensitivity of Lagochilus populations’ regeneration to drying, among six species and in sites across Uzbekistan. On a multi-decadal temporal scale, the dramatic changes in carbon-13 indicate that the response to precipitation reduction is related with drought stress. Considering the expectation for drier and hotter climate in Uzbekistan in the coming decades, conservation of Lagochilus populations should become a priority in Central Asia.

中亚的高山生态系统是一个生物多样性热点，拥有独特的植物群落和许多特有物种。巨大的人类压力和全球变暖已导致这些地区的栖息地遭到破坏，同时濒危物种的数量同时增加。Lagochilus物种是中亚土生土长的关键药用草本植物，其中许多最近被添加到乌兹别克斯坦濒危物种中。

为了评估Lagochilus物种对气候的敏感性，我们（1）在乌兹别克斯坦的原生地中定位了6个物种的种群，并通过连续五年划分为个体发育阶段来评估它们的健康状况；（2）从这些物种以及旧标本室样本（1918年至1964年）中收集的植物材料；（3）分析了这些样品中的碳13组成，以作为承受应力的指标。

在连续五年（2014-2018年）的监测过程中，该地区年降水量的波动表明减少了约20％，每个种群中的幼小植物的比例从20-50％降至0-5％ ，取决于物种。比较当前和历史叶片样品中的碳13组成，结果表明增加了1.5-3.5‰，降水减少了2-30％，这取决于地点和物种。

我们的结果表明，在乌兹别克斯坦的六个物种中和不同地点，Lagochilus种群的再生对干旱高度敏感。在多年代的时间尺度上，碳13的剧烈变化表明对降水减少的响应与干旱胁迫有关。考虑到未来几十年乌兹别克斯坦将出现更干燥和更热的气候的预期，保护中美洲的Lagochilus种群应成为优先事项。