Typically, the curve of land surface area versus altitude in mountain systems exhibits a unimodal pattern. It is generally accepted that land surface area decreases with increasing altitude towards summits, which means suitable habitats for alpine species will shrink as they migrate upwards (Dullinger et al., 2012; Engler et al., 2011; Loarie et al., 2009). However, combining other publications, it becomes evident that an unconventional expansion of suitable areas as plants shift upward is more common in the Third Pole (He et al., 2019a; He et al., 2019b; Rana et al., 2022; You et al., 2018). The HHM adjoin the TP, which boasts extensive areas at higher altitudes, serving as an escape region for alpine species in adjacent mountains (Liang et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2022). Under future climate warming, warmer temperatures and increased precipitation will transform currently unsuitable regions, such as permafrost, into suitable habitats for alpine species. Ideally, during migration, species’ ranges will expand due to the newly gained suitable distribution areas on the TP exceeding those lost in the HHM. For instance, despite having suffered the highest loss of the current areas in HDM, Marmoritis complanata has overcompensated by gaining new areas on the TP. However, species that lack sufficient new suitable habitats on the TP in the future will be confined to mountainous regions and experience range contraction. In the case ofMarmoritis complanata, only under warmer scenarios can it gain more suitable areas on the TP to offset the losses in the HHM.Phlomoides rotata will inevitably experience contraction in any scenario, with minimal gains and higher losses of areas in mountainous regions. The availability of larger new potential suitable areas serves as a safeguard for species against climate risks. We suggest that the TP will be a key destination for species migration from adjacent mountains, with potential for extensive areas to be converted into suitable habitats. However, when considering the HHM alone, the situation aligns with the ”nowhere to go” hypothesis, suggesting that suitable habitats will shrink as alpine species move upwards.