Phylogeography and ecological niche modelling implicate coastal refugia and trans‐alpine dispersal of a New Zealand fungus beetle

Abstract

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) severely restricted forest ecosystems on New Zealand's South Island, but the extent of LGM distribution for forest species is still poorly understood. We used mitochondrial DNA phylogeography (COI) and ecological niche modelling (ENM) to identify LGM refugia for the mycophagous beetle Agyrtodes labralis (Leiodidae), a forest edge species widely distributed in the South Island. Both the phylogenetic analyses and the ENM indicate that A. labralis refuged in Kaikoura, Nelson, and along much of the South Island's west coast. Phylogeography of this species indicates that recolonization of the largely deforested east and southeast South Island occurred in a west-east direction, with populations moving through the Southern Alps, and that the northern refugia participated little in interglacial population expansion. This contradicts published studies of other New Zealand species, in which recolonization occurs in a north-south fashion from many of the same refugia.

Deep mtDNA subdivision within Linnean species in an endemic radiation of tiger beetles from New Zealand (genus Neocicindela)

“…e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / y m p e v Marshall et al, 2009;Marske et al, 2009;McCulloch et al 2010), the environmental constraints to dispersal (Leschen et al, 2008), the role of hybridization in species separation (Buckley et al, 2006) or the taxonomic status and biogeographic history of various insects (Buckley et al, 2006;Emerson and Wallis, 1995;Trewick, 2008) and arachnids (Boyer et al, 2007).…”

'Moa's Ark' or 'Goodbye Gondwana': is the origin of New Zealand's terrestrial invertebrate fauna ancient, recent or both?

“…Molecular systematists and biogeographers have addressed topics such as the number and location of Pleistocene refugia (e.g. Marske et al 2009;Buckley et al 2010), the Alpine Fault Hypothesis (e.g. Heads and Craw 2004) and, most contentiously, a vicariance-v. dispersal-based origin of New Zealand's terrestrial biota (e.g.…”

Persistence of New Zealand Quaternary beetles

“…Marske et al 2009Marske et al , 2011, and the mainly unglaciated North Island has been a source area for insects that were previously extirpated in the South Island and recolonised later (e.g. Marshall et al 2009;Buckley et al 2009Buckley et al , 2010.…”