Abstract: Global climate warming, combined with modern large-scale and high-density intensive farming systems, has considerably broadened the scope and intensified the severity of the adverse effects of heat stress. Heat stress has become one of the most critical stress factors that urgently require attention in livestock and poultry production, and exert negative impacts on production performance, reproductive performance, and immune function, thereby resulting in decreased feed intake, retarded growth, reproductive disorders, reduced immunity, and other associated problems. Natural plants and their extracts contain a variety of bioactive components （e.g., polyphenols and polysaccharides） that can alleviate heat stress-induced damage through mechanisms, including antioxidation, anti-inflammation, free radical scavenging, immune regulation, and improvement of intestinal function. This review introduces the alleviating effects of several individual natural plants （e.g., Viola yedoensis, Momordica charantia seedlings, Moringa oleifera leaves, Fructus Ligustri Lucidi, and Schisandra chinensis） and traditional Chinese herbal compound formulations （e.g., Huanglian Jiedu Powder and Qinzhu Xianling Powder） on heat stress in livestock and poultry. Particular emphasis is placed on the specific applications and mechanisms of action of plant extracts such as Scutellaria baicalensis extract, Mentha haplocalyx extract, and resveratrol, with the aim of providing a valuable reference for the effective management of heat stress in modern animal husbandry.

Key words: natural plants, plant extracts, livestock and poultry production, heat stress, alleviating effect, research progress