A complex scenario of glacial survival in Mediterranean and continental refugia of a temperate continental vole species ( Microtus arvalis ) in Europe

• Published in: Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research
• Main Authors: García, Jesús, Domínguez‐villaseñor, Julio, Alda, Fernando, Calero‐riestra, María, Pérez Olea, Pedro, Fargallo, Juan Antonio, Martínez‐padilla, Jesús, Herranz, Jesús, Oñate, Juan José, Santamaría, Ana, Motro, Yoav, Attié, Carole, Bretagnolle, Vincent, V., Delibes, Juan, Vinuela, Javier
• Other Authors: Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) (IRB), Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales Madrid (MNCN), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC), University of Oviedo, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE PLANT PROTECTION AND INSPECTION SERVICES BET DAGAN ISR, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: “Continental” species; common vole; glacial refugia; mitochondrial DNA; spatially explicit phylogeography; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Common vole; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02734300; https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12323

International audience The role of glacial refugia in shaping contemporary species distribution is a longstandingquestion in phylogeography and evolutionary ecology. Recent studies arequestioning previous paradigms on glacial refugia and postglacial recolonizationpathways in Europe, and more flexible phylogeographic scenarios have been proposed.We used the widespread common vole Microtus arvalis as a model to investigatethe origin, locations of glacial refugia, and dispersal pathways, in the group of“Continental” species in Europe. We used a Bayesian spatiotemporal diffusion analysis(relaxed random walk model) of cytochrome b sequences across the species range,including newly collected individuals from 10 Iberian localities and published sequencesfrom 68 localities across 22 European countries. Our data suggest that thespecies originated in Central Europe, and we revealed the location of multiple refugia(in both southern peninsulas and continental regions) for this continental model species.Our results confirm the monophyly of Iberian voles and the pre‐LGM divergencebetween Iberian and European voles. We found evidence of restricted postglacial dispersalfrom refugia in Mediterranean peninsulas. We inferred a complex evolutionary and demographic history of M. arvalis in Europe over the last 50,000 years that doesnot adequately fit previous glacial refugial scenarios. The phylogeography of M. arvalisprovides a paradigm of ice‐age survival of a temperate continental species inwestern and eastern Mediterranean peninsulas (sources of endemism) and multiplecontinental regions (sources of postglacial spread). Our findings also provide supportfor a major role of large European river systems in shaping geographic boundaries ofM. arvalis in Europe.