Palms are keystone species in tropical ecosystems and provide essential ecosystem services to rural people worldwide. However, many palm species are threatened by habitat loss and over-exploitation. Furthermore, palms are sensitive to climate and thus vulnerable to future climate changes. In the present study we explore the potential future risks to the African palm flora by assessing the intensity of future threats from climate change and human impact. We further assess the potential buffering role of the cross-African conservation area network. In summary we find that a major plant component of tropical ecosystems and provider of ecosystem services to rural populations will face strongly increased pressures from climate change and human populations in the near future.

Talk given in the weekly seminar at Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France