Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Systematik Und Biogeographie, Eberswalder Str. 90, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany.
Centrum Für Naturkunde, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 8;11(1):201. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79376-x.
Glacial refugia are centers of high biodiversity. Therefore, knowledge on their locations and reactions of associated populations and landscapes to climatic changes is crucial for conservation management. We here investigated the biogeography of a butterfly species linked to open forest habitats. Using mitochondrial and nuclear markers in combination with Bayesian simulations, we analyzed the location and age of potential glacial refugia of the species. We identified five putative refugia in Europe. Considering the ecological needs of our study species, tree density within these refugial areas, in contrast to earlier assumptions, must have exceeded the level of individually scattered trees. Our results also provide evidence that especially the refuge areas in the Carpathians were previously underestimated regarding their age: the refugia in the Southern Carpathians presented suitable conditions throughout several glacial cycles, probably since the Mindel or Riss cycles. Additionally, our analyses provided support for a forest refugium near the Tatra Mountains persisting the last glacial maximum. Our results underline the usefulness of this and probably other butterfly species as indicators of forest refugia.
冰川避难所是生物多样性的中心。因此，了解它们的位置以及相关种群和景观对气候变化的反应对保护管理至关重要。我们在这里调查了与开阔森林栖息地相关的蝴蝶物种的生物地理学。我们使用线粒体和核标记物结合贝叶斯模拟，分析了该物种潜在冰川避难所的位置和年龄。我们在欧洲确定了五个可能的避难所。考虑到我们研究物种的生态需求，与早期假设相反，这些避难所区域内的树木密度必须超过单独散布的树木的水平。我们的结果还提供了证据，表明特别是喀尔巴阡山脉的避难区在年龄方面以前被低估了：南喀尔巴阡山脉的避难区在几个冰川周期中都提供了适宜的条件，可能自民德或里斯周期以来一直如此。此外，我们的分析还支持塔特拉山脉附近的森林避难所持续到末次冰盛期。我们的研究结果强调了这种蝴蝶物种及其可能的其他蝴蝶物种作为森林避难所指标的有用性。
