To cope with environmental challenges, plants produce a wide diversity of phytochemicals, which are also the source of numerous medicines. Despite decades of research in chemical ecology, we still lack an understanding of the organization of plant chemical diversity across species and ecosystems. To address this challenge, we hypothesized that molecular diversity is not only related to species diversity, but also constrained by trophic, climatic, and topographical factors. We screened the metabolome of 416 vascular plant species encompassing the entire alpine elevation range and four alpine bioclimatic regions in order to characterize their phytochemical diversity. We show that by coupling phylogenetic information, topographic, edaphic, and climatic variables, we predict phytochemical diversity, and its inherent composition, of plant communities throughout landscape. Spatial mapping of phytochemical diversity further revealed that plant assemblages found in low to midelevation habitats, with more alkaline soils, possessed greater phytochemical diversity, whereas alpine habitats possessed higher phytochemical endemism. Altogether, we present a general tool that can be used for predicting hotspots of phytochemical diversity in the landscape, independently of plant species taxonomic identity. Such an approach offers promising perspectives in both drug discovery programs and conservation efforts worldwide.

为了应对环境挑战，植物生产出种类繁多的植物化学物质，这些植物化学物质也是众多药物的来源。尽管在化学生态学方面进行了数十年的研究，但我们仍然缺乏对跨物种和生态系统的植物化学多样性组织的了解。为了应对这一挑战，我们假设分子多样性不仅与物种多样性有关，而且还受到营养、气候和地形因素的限制。我们筛选了 416 种维管植物物种的代谢组，包括整个高山海拔范围和四个高山生物气候区域，以表征它们的植物化学多样性。我们表明，通过耦合系统发育信息、地形、土壤和气候变量，我们可以预测植物化学多样性及其固有组成，整个景观中的植物群落。植物化学多样性的空间测绘进一步表明，在低海拔到中等海拔生境中发现的植物组合具有更多的碱性土壤，具有更大的植物化学多样性，而高山生境具有更高的植物化学特有性。总之，我们提出了一种通用工具，可用于预测景观中植物化学多样性的热点，与植物物种分类学特征无关。这种方法为全球药物发现计划和保护工作提供了有希望的前景。而高山栖息地具有较高的植物化学特有性。总之，我们提出了一种通用工具，可用于预测景观中植物化学多样性的热点，与植物物种分类学特征无关。这种方法为全球药物发现计划和保护工作提供了有希望的前景。而高山栖息地具有较高的植物化学特有性。总之，我们提出了一种通用工具，可用于预测景观中植物化学多样性的热点，与植物物种分类学特征无关。这种方法为全球药物发现计划和保护工作提供了有希望的前景。