Quaternary refugia in southwestern Iran: insights from two sympatric moth species (Insecta, Lepidoptera)

• Published in: Organisms diversity & evolution 2013-09, Vol.13 (3), p.409-423
• Main Authors: Rajaei Sh, Hossein, Rödder, Dennis, Weigand, Alexander M, Dambach, Johannes, Raupach, Michael J, Wägele, J. Wolfgang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Bats; Biodiversity; Biodiversity hot spots; Biogeography; Biological evolution; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Butterflies & moths; Climate change; Developmental Biology; Distribution; Endangered & extinct species; Evolutionary Biology; extinction; Genetic diversity; genetic markers; Geographical distribution; Glacial periods; Haplotypes; Host plants; Insecta; Interglacial periods; Lepidoptera; Life Sciences; Mass extinctions; moths; Mountains; Original Article; Palaeo studies; Persistence; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Population growth; Population structure; Prunus; Quaternary; refuge habitats; Refuges; Refugia; Scoparia; Spatial distribution; Species extinction; Sympatric populations; Taxa; Taxonomy
• ISSN: 1439-6092; 1618-1077
• DOI: 10.1007/s13127-013-0126-6

Alternating glacial and interglacial periods led to range shifts (contractions and expansions), persistence in distinct glacial refugia and extinction events in various temperate organisms. Today, the integrative analysis of molecular markers and spatial distribution models conducted for multiple taxa allows the detection of phylogeographical patterns, thus reconstructing major biogeographical events in their shared evolutionary history. In this study, the effects of past climate change on the evolutionary history of two sympatric moth species (Gnopharmia colchidaria s.l. and G. kasrunensis) and their host plants (Prunus scoparia and P. fenzliana) were inferred for the largely neglected biodiversity hot spot Iran. We complementarily analyzed the population structure of both moth species (187 specimens, based on COI) in congruence with batched species distribution models (SDMs) for all four taxa and for the times of the Last Glacial Maximum (21 ky BP), 6 ky BP and today. Coincidence of SDMs and the distribution of haplotype lineages indicated a shared refugium for the southwestern Zagros Mountains and potential species-specific refugial areas in the southern Caucasus and the Kope-Dagh Mountains. Both moth species experienced past population expansion.