Satellite-observed land cover change predicts plant genomic erosion over half a century

Human induced land-cover change within the past decades has resulted in severe biodiversity loss, adversely affecting ecosystems and their contributions to human societies ^1,2 . Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires the development of monitoring frameworks that can reliably detect biodiversity change and inform conservation actions ^3,4,5 . Satellite observations have revolutionized our ability to monitor species and ecosystem dynamics in response to anthropogenic pressures, yet, a last frontier remains: detecting genetic diversity change from space ⁶ . Here, we address this challenge by utilizing remote sensing to predict genomic erosion over half a century of global change. We sequenced historical and modern genomes of a medically important mountain plant, and show that genomic erosion is highly predictable by the velocity of land cover change. Our models reveal that faster vegetation “greening” in mountain ecosystems leads to higher inbreeding accumulation in the affected species. By linking satellite data with genomic erosion, we demonstrate the ability of remote sensing to monitor the impact of environmental change on genetic diversity, with far reaching implications for protecting the basal level of biodiversity.