Inferring the evolutionary history of Mediterranean plant lineages from current genetic, distributional and taxonomic patterns is complex because of a number of palaeoclimatic and geological interconnected factors together with landscape heterogeneity and human influence. Therefore, choosing spatially simplified systems as study groups is a suitable approach. An amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) study using two restriction enzyme combinations (EcoRI/MseI and KpnI/MseI) was carried out to estimate the structure of genetic variation throughout the range of Armeria pungens. This species has a West Iberian-Corso/Sardinian disjunct distribution on coastal sand-dune ecosystems. Bayesian, amova and genetic distance analyses of the AFLP data revealed the same distinguishable genetic groups, which do not match the main geographical disjunction. Corso-Sardinian populations were found to be genetically closer to southwest Portuguese than to those from the Gulf of Cadiz (the closest geographically). Eastwards long-distance dispersal is therefore invoked to explain this geographical disjunction. A GIS analysis based on bioclimatic envelope modelling aiming to characterize the current locations of A. pungens found strong similarities between the Portugal and Corsica-Sardinia sites and less so between these areas and the Gulf of Cadiz. This coincident pattern between AFLP and climatic data suggests that the geographical disjunction is better explained by climatic factors than by the likeliness of a stochastic dispersal event. Such a combined phylogeographical-GIS modelling approach proves to be enlightening in reconstructing the evolutionary history of plant species.

Evolutionary consequences of natural hybridization between species may vary so drastically depending on spatial, genetic, and ecological factors that multiple approaches are required to uncover them. To unravel the evolutionary history of a controversial hybrid (Narcissus ×perezlarae), here we use four approaches: DNA sequences from five regions (four organellar, one nuclear), cytological studies (chromosome counts and genome size), crossing experiments, and niche modeling. We conclude that (1)

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The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) seeks to assess the conservation status of the world vascular plants by 2020, and to guarantee that at least 75% threatened taxa are conserved in situ. A comprehensive evaluation of IUCN categories for 7269 Spanish vascular plants (GSPC Target 2), using distribution data and environmental niche models, is presented. A gap analysis to assess the percentage of threatened plants effectively conserved in situ (considering national parks, plant micro-reserves and recovery or conservation plans) was also conducted (Target 7). The result is that only 44.4% threatened species are subject to an adequate in situ protection. An appropriate management of additional natural protected areas towards the conservation of threatened plants would make Spain meet this threshold, but severe deficiencies should be corrected. The methodology presented here is proposed as a tool to assess the degree of achievement of GSPC targets. This procedure can be quickly implemented and allows an easy evaluation of the progress, as well as the pending tasks in a given period of time.

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Climate change will impact several ecosystems, and the resilience of the weakest links of the ecological networks may be decisive in maintaining the ecological structure. The assessment of tendencies in the distribution and resilience of endangered medicinal species against global change can be an excellent tool to predict and minimize future negative effects, even more so if we consider that these species may be useful to us. Spain is one of the richest countries in plant diversity along the Mediterranean basin, and many representatives of the Spanish flora are medicinal plants. Under scenarios of climate change, the distribution ranges of many of these species are likely to alter. In this paper we used ecological niche modeling to predict future changes in the distribution of 41 medicinal plants included in the 2013 assessment of threatened species in Spain. We generated climate-based niche models for each medicinal species and projected them for each decade from 2010 until 2080. Our results identified and prioritized the most vulnerable species and areas to future predicted changes. These results should be useful for conservation planning and especially for prioritizing areas for protection.

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