Chapter 3: <italic>East European Plain</italic>

Pleistocene dynamics of the Eurasian steppe as a driving force of evolution: Phylogenetic history of the genus Capsella (Brassicaceae)

“…Instead, there is convincing evidence for the "northern route.” The spread of steppe elements from Asia to the Black Sea region since the Pliocene is clearly indicated by pollen records (e.g., Feurdean & Vasiliev, 2019 ; Popescu et al., 2010 ; Popova et al., 2017 ; Tarasov et al., 2000 ), and the climate/landscape history of the Eurasian steppe belt throughout the Neogene and Quaternary has been intensively studied (Grichuk ( 1989 ) and Velichko et al. ( 2005 ) for East European Plain; Arkhipov et al. ( 2005 ) for West Siberian Plain; Akhmetiev et al.…”

“…Periglacial cold steppe spread over the East European Plain north of the Black and Caspian Sea. Interglacial periods were characterized by temperate steppes, forest‐steppe, and forests (Grichuk, 1989 , 1992a ; Velichko et al., 2005 ). Contrarily, the Mediterranean region including the Balkan Peninsula was not affected as much.…”

“…In the following interglacial, steppe and forest‐steppe expanded again in east‐to‐west direction. This eastward contraction and westward expansion of the steppe belt occurred several times during the climatic macrocycles (Grichuk, 1989 ; Velichko et al., 2005 ). In Asia, the steppe could move to the south whereas in southeastern Europe, the steppe could not migrate to the south and the continuous range of the MRCA was disrupted due to geophysical barriers (Black Sea and Caucasus).…”

“…This in turn promoted the expansion of drought‐adapted steppe forbs and grasses. Spreading toward the west, the Eurasian steppe belt reached the East European Plain in Late Miocene (Akhmetyev et al, 1999 ; Velichko, 1999 ; Velichko et al., 2005 ; 2011b ) and expanded in Eastern Europe during the Pliocene (Lang, 1994 ; Mai, 1995 ). The Eurasian steppe belt was under strong influence of the Pleistocene glaciations that caused extensive expansions and contractions as well as latitudinal shifts and longitudinal splits of the ranges of steppe plant species during the past 3 million years (Hurka et al., 2019 and references therein).…”

Genetic roadmap of the Arctic: plant dispersal highways, traffic barriers and capitals of diversity

“…a) lends further support to the hypothesis that this mountain range has been, and for low‐arctic species still is, an efficient barrier to gene flow. However, it is possible that the Ural Mountains do not act as a barrier per se , but that the shift towards less continentality moving from east (Arkhipov et al ., ) to west (Velichko et al ., ) may filter establishment. One should also keep in mind that this climatic asymmetry has persisted throughout the Pleistocene, leading to recurrently more extensive glaciations in the west (Astakhov, ), which may generate a genetic boundary and shift in genetic diversity that coincide with the Ural region.…”