Endemic and restricted-range species are considered to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of environmental change, which makes assessing likely climate change effects on geographic distributions of such species important to the development of integrated conservation strategies. Here, we determined distributional patterns for an endemic species of Dianthus (Dianthus polylepis) in the Irano-Turanian region using a maximum-entropy algorithm. In total, 70 occurrence points and 19 climatic variables were used to estimate the potential distributional area under current conditions and two future representative concentration pathway (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5) scenarios under seven general circulation models for 2050. Mean diurnal range, iso-thermality, minimum temperature of coldest quarter, and annual precipitation were major factors that appeared to structure the distribution of the species. Most current potential suitable areas were located in montane regions. Model transfers to future-climate scenarios displayed upward shifts in elevation and northward shifts geographically for the species. Our results can be used to define high-priority areas in the Irano-Turanian region for conservation management plans for this species and can offer a template for analyses of other endangered and threatened species in the region.

A new species from southwest of Bojnord, NE of Iran is described and illustrated here as Dianthus pseudocrinitus (Caryophyllaceae). This species is morphologically similar to D. crinitus subsp. turcomanicus, but can be distinguished from the latter by bract number, width of lower and upper leaves, margin of thickness of outermost bracts, length of calyx, length and width of anther, branches of stem, type of sheath of lower leaf, and tip shape of petal fimbria. The new species is also similar to D. orientalis subsp. stenocalyx in terms of floral characters, but they differ by several non- overlapping morphological characters. Results obtained from the morphological data are consistent with those obtained from the molecular phylogenetic trees based on sequences of the two copies of DFR1 gene, confirming phylogenetic affinity of the new species to D. crinitus subsp. turcomanicus.

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This study focuses on karyological investigation of four taxa of Dianthus (Caryophyllaceae) including D. crossopetalus, D. orientalis subsp. stenocalyx, D. orientalis subsp. gorganicus, and Dianthus sp. distributed in Northeast of Iran. The karyotype asymmetry/symmetry was evaluated using two methods: 1) CVCL (coefficient of variation of chromosome length) and CVCI (heterogeneity of the centromeric index); and 2) MCA (mean centromeric asymmetry). The karyotype asymmetry was also used to investigate the relationships among the taxa. Results obtained from the current study revealed that there are two different ploidy levels (2n = 2x = 30 and 2n = 4x = 60) among the investigated taxa. The indices CVCL and MCA described karyotype asymmetry correctly based on variation in chromosome length. Diagram of CVCL vs. MCA seems to be appropriate for karyological delimitation and taxonomic relationships among the Dianthus taxa under study. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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