Cryptic or mystic? Glacial tree refugia in northern Europe

Here, we examine the evidence for tree refugia in northern Europe during the Late Pleniglacial (LPG) interval of maximum tree-range contraction. Our review highlights the often equivocal nature of genetic data and a tendency to overestimate potential tree distributions due to warm climate-model bias, and also reveals a convergence of macrofossil and pollen evidence. What emerges is the absence of temperate trees north of 45-N and a west–east (W–E) asymmetry in boreal tree distribution, with a treeless Western Europe north of 46-N, while restricted boreal populations persisted in Eastern Europe up to 49-N, and higher latitudes east of the Fennoscandian ice-sheet. These results have implications for current thinking on European genetic diversity patterns, species migration capacity, and conservation strategies.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Tzedakis, P.C., Emerson, Brent C., Hewitt, Godfrey M
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier 2013-12-28
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/178483
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!