{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T11:05:26Z","timestamp":1779275126946,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779235200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The steno-endemic Verbascum rupicola faces a precarious future due to its extreme habitat specialization on tectonically active hydrothermal quartz veins. This study presents a long-term assessment based on periodic population censuses spanning 18 years (2007, 2016, and 2025) to assess the demographic and spatial trends of its global population in the Tahtal\u0131 Dam basin, T\u00fcrkiye. Field surveys, GIS-based habitat mapping, and controlled pollination experiments were integrated with seed germination kinetics and ex situ cultivation trials. Results reveal a precipitous 69.12% global population decline, primarily driven by a 33.41% habitat loss from agricultural expansion in 2011 and the total extirpation of three sub-populations by a major wildfire in 2017. Furthermore, a \u201creproductive squeeze\u201d was identified, where climate-induced reductions in flower production (18.87%) are compounded by intensifying floral predation by Pieris rapae. Reproductive analysis revealed random monomorphic enantiostyly\u2014reported for the first time in the genus\u2014which functions as a flexible mating system prioritizing outcrossing while providing reproductive assurance. Despite high intrinsic seed viability (69.12%), ex situ cultivation largely failed (3.5% survival; 1 out of 28 transplanted individuals), underscoring the species\u2019 obligate chasmophytic nature. Consequently, V. rupicola meets the criteria for Critically Endangered (CR) status, necessitating urgent \u201cmicro-reserve\u201d protection of its remaining habitat and in situ restoration efforts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15101555","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T09:12:41Z","timestamp":1779268361000},"page":"1555","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["18-Year Monitoring of the Steno-Endemic Verbascum rupicola (Scrophulariaceae): Compounding Pressures and the Extinction Vortex"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4868-5988","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Volkan","family":"Ero\u011flu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Science Faculty, Ege University, Bornova, \u0130zmir 35100, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1327","DOI":"10.1007\/s10531-023-02555-5","article-title":"A critical inventory of the mediterranean endemics in the egyptian flora","volume":"32","author":"Bedair","year":"2023","journal-title":"Biodivers. 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