Beyond the Mediterranean peninsulas: evidence of central European glacial refugia for a temperate forest mammal species, the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus)

• Published in: Molecular Ecology
• Main Authors: Deffontaine, Valérie, Libois, Roland, Kotlik , Petr, Sommer, Roger, Nieberding, Caroline M., Paradis, Emmanuel, Searle, Jeremy B., Michaux, Johan René
• Other Authors: Université de Liège,Belgium - Unité de Recherches Zoogéographiques, Campus internationalAgropolis de Baillarguet, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France - Centre de Biologie et de Gestion des Populations, University of Rostock, Germany - Institute for Biodiversity Research, General & Systematic Zoology, Université Montpellier II, France - Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, University of York - Department of Biology, UCL - SST/ELI/ELIB - Biodiversity
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005
• Subjects: Central Europe; Clethrionomys glareolus; Glacial refugia; Mitochondrial DNA; Phylo- geography; Quaternary glaciations; ural mountains
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/113146; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02506.x

This study details the phylogeographic pattern of the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus,a European rodent species strongly associated with forest habitat. We used sequences of 1011 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene from 207 bank voles collected in 62 localities spread throughout its distribution area. Our results reveal the presence of three Mediterranean (Spanish, Italian and Balkan) and three continental (western, eastern and ‘Ural’) phylogroups. The endemic Mediterranean phylogroups did not contribute to the postglacial recolonization of much of the Palaearctic range of species. Instead, the major part of this region was apparently recolonized by bank voles that survived in glacial refugia in central Europe. Moreover, our phylogeographic analyses also reveal differentiated populations of bank voles in the Ural mountains and elsewhere, which carry the mitochondrial DNA of another related vole species, the ruddy vole (Clethrionomys rutilus). In conclusion, this study demonstrates a complex phylogeographic history for a forest species in Europe which is sufficiently adaptable that, facing climate change, survives in relict southern and northern habitats. The high level of genetic diversity characterizing vole populations from parts of central Europe also highlights the importance of such regions asa source of intraspecific genetic biodiversity.