With the loss of low–altitude areas, the habitats of species become increasingly fragmented, and geographical barriers intensify population differentiation. The Ward Line–Mekong–Salween Divide, a classic geographical barrier, has been proven to drive the phylogeographical differentiation of Marmoritis planatum (Luo et al., 2017). Our study reveals that the current potential distribution area of species in the Hengduan Mountains tends to be isolated, lacking direct connectivity with other potential distribution areas. Mountain ridges and river valleys serve as geographical barriers, segmenting the current potential distribution areas of species (Li et al., 2021). Our results suggest that climate warming will accelerate the emergence of new geographical barriers within the existing potential distribution areas of alpine species.