Over the past century, global temperatures have experienced a sharp increase and are projected to accelerate in the future (Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC), 2023). Climate change has exerted profound impacts on global ecosystems, putting numerous species and biodiversity hotspots under severe threat in recent decades (Urban, 2015). Mountain systems, which harbor most of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, were identified as susceptible regions. And alpine areas are more vulnerable to impacts, alpine species are considered to be at elevated risk (Engler et al., 2011; Nogués–Bravo et al., 2007; Noroozi et al., 2018; Seddon et al., 2016). The ‘Third Pole’, comprising the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains (HHM), constitutes the world’s highest alpine ecosystem (Liu et al., 2022). As a crucial global biodiversity hotspot, the HHM region harbors the richest alpine flora in the world (Myers et al., 2000). In recent decades, the Third Pole has been experiencing rapid warming, which is causing glacier melting, lake expansion, and the upward shift of the treeline (Gaur et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2021; Tian et al., 2022; Yuke, 2019). However, the response of the Third Pole’s alpine flora and species to climate change remains largely uncharted.