Societal Impact Statement The Mediterranean is one of five climatic regions on the planet characterised by a prolonged summer drought, exceptional plant diversity and high rates of endemism. We provide a framework to link the ecology of plant species conservation in the context of rapid and extreme climate deregulation to a philosophical typology of temporal attitudes (i.e., past, present and future). We argue that we must go beyond the historical heritage approach to embrace conservation action in a changing world. We review pragmatic and original ways to deepen social awareness for plant conservation, aligned with the three temporal themes. It is time to bring plants to the forefront of conservation action. Summary In this Thomas Review, we provide a structure that links ecological science of plant species conservation to a philosophical typology of temporal attitudes of scientists, i.e. ways of considering the inscription of one's action in time, with a preference for a temporal dimension in the past, the present or the future. We developed this framework to illustrate original ways of deepening social awareness for plant conservation. In section 1, we widen ecological and evolutionary foundations for plant conservation based on the historical floristic heritage to embrace the need to protect species at their range limits and the need to monitor the effects of extreme climate events. The processes that shape diversity and adaptation are central to this approach. Section 2 describes three temporal attitudes associated with the above three conservation themes. The remembrance attitude is characterised by its interest in the long‐term history of plant diversity. The anticipation attitude relies on climate scenarios and expected species distribution changes. Finally, a prudent attitude consists of making regular observations of ongoing change that relies on an iterative temporality of a continually renewed present. In section 3, we illustrate pragmatic and original ways to deepen social awareness for plant conservation in line with the three temporal themes. We conclude with a comment on the uncertainties surrounding conservation science and the need for confidence to act locally.
Thompson et al. (Tue,) studied this question.