Pleistocene climate change and the formation of regional species pools

Although the description of bioregions dates back to the origin of biogeography, the processes originating their associated species pools have been seldom studied. Ancient historical events are thought to play a fundamental role in configuring bioregions, but the effects of more recent events on the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2019-06, Vol.286 (1905), p.20190291
Main Authors: Calatayud, Joaquín, Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel, Molina-Venegas, Rafael, Leo, María, Horreo, Jose Luis, Hortal, Joaquín
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity
Biological Evolution
bioregions
Biota
Carabus ground beetles
Climate Change
Coleoptera
dispersal
Ecology
Ecosystem
Genetic Variation
historical biogeography
Ice Cover
niche tracking
Phylogeny
Phylogeography
Pleistocene glaciations
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Summary:Although the description of bioregions dates back to the origin of biogeography, the processes originating their associated species pools have been seldom studied. Ancient historical events are thought to play a fundamental role in configuring bioregions, but the effects of more recent events on these regional biotas are largely unknown. We used a network approach to identify regional and sub-regional faunas of European Carabus beetles and developed a method to explore the relative contribution of dispersal barriers, niche similarities and phylogenetic history on their configuration. We identify a transition zone matching the limit of the ice sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum. While southern species pools are mostly separated by dispersal barriers, in the north species are mainly sorted by their environmental niches. Strikingly, most phylogenetic structuration of Carabus faunas occurred during the Pleistocene. Our results show how extreme recent historical events-such as Pleistocene climate cooling, rather than just deep-time evolutionary processes-can profoundly modify the composition and structure of geographical species pools.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2019.0291