Postglacial migration supplements climate in determining plant species ranges in Europe

Abstract

The influence of dispersal limitation on species ranges remains controversial. Considering the dramatic impacts of the last glaciation in Europe, species might not have tracked climate changes through time and, as a consequence, their present-day ranges might be in disequilibrium with current climate. For 1016 European plant species, we assessed the relative importance of current climate and limited postglacial migration in determining species ranges using regression modelling and explanatory variables representing climate, and a novel species-specific hind-casting-based measure of accessibility to postglacial colonization. Climate was important for all species, while postglacial colonization also constrained the ranges of more than 50 per cent of the species. On average, climate explained five times more variation in species ranges than accessibility, but accessibility was the strongest determinant for one-sixth of the species. Accessibility was particularly important for species with limited long-distance dispersal ability, with southern glacial ranges, seed plants compared with ferns, and small-range species in southern Europe. In addition, accessibility explained one-third of the variation in species' disequilibrium with climate as measured by the realized/potential range size ratio computed with niche modelling. In conclusion, we show that although climate is the dominant broad-scale determinant of European plant species ranges, constrained dispersal plays an important supplementary role.

Palaeo-precipitation is a major determinant of palm species richness patterns across Madagascar: a tropical biodiversity hotspot

“…Owing to these biogeographic patterns, parts of north and northeastern Madagascar have been hypothesized to have acted as refugia during the Pleistocene [33,35], although direct evidence for this is lacking. In this study, we focused on species richness as a key facet of macroecological patterns [1], but alternatively one could also have looked at the importance of palaeoclimate for the distribution of individual species [57]. However, as a majority of the Madagascan palm species have small to very small ranges, sample size will be too low to implement such an approach for most species (cf.…”

“…However, as a majority of the Madagascan palm species have small to very small ranges, sample size will be too low to implement such an approach for most species (cf. [57]). …”

Distribution patterns of European lacustrine gastropods: a result of environmental factors and deglaciation history

“…(2) Gastropod species richness and composition across European lakes are strongly affected by the late Pleistocene glaciations and particularly the timing of deglaciation. We expect an effect of late Pleistocene ice cover on the modern gastropod distributions, considering the evidence for the effect of the LGM on species contemporary distribution (e.g., see Araújo et al, 2008;Svenning et al, 2009;Normand et al, 2011). We hypothesize that lakes of common deglaciation history share a common biogeographical evolution and thus conform in their species compositions.…”

Biome changes and their inferred climatic drivers in northern and eastern continental Asia at selected times since 40 cal ka bp

“…biotic interactions) delay the temporal or spatial response of vegetation to a climate forcing (e.g. Normand et al 2011;Svenning and Sandel 2013;Herzschuh et al 2016). In permafrost areas, for example, the summer thaw-depth may influence the occurrence of a specific biome, particularly evergreen or deciduous needle-leaf forests (e.g.…”