Comparative phylogeography and postglacial colonization routes in Europe

• Published in: Molecular Ecology
• Main Authors: Taberlet, P., Fumagalli, L., Wust-Saucy, A. G., Cosson, J. F.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Zoology, The University of Queensland (UQ All campuses : Brisbane, Dutton Park Gatton, Herston, St Lucia and other locations ), Institut de Zoologie et d?Ecologie Animale, Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL), Laboratoire Génome et Populations, Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 1998
• Subjects: [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity; [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://hal.science/halsde-00280580; https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00289.x

Times Cited: 651 International audience The Quaternary cold periods in Europe are thought to have heavily influenced the amount and distribution of intraspecific genetic variation in both animals and plants. The phylogeographies of 10 taxa, including mammals (Ursus arctos, Sorex spp., Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola spp.), amphibians (Triturus spp.), arthropods (Chorthippus parallelus), and plants (Abies alba, Picea abies, Fagus sylvatica, Quercus spp.), were analysed to elucidate general trends across Europe. Only a small degree of congruence was found amongst the phylogeographies of the 10 taxa, but the likely postglacial colonization routes exhibit some similarities. A Brooks parsimony analysis produced an unrooted area phylogram, showing that: (i) the northern regions were colonized generally from the Iberic and Balkanic refugia; and (ii) the Italian lineages were often isolated due to the presence of the Alpine barrier. The comparison of colonization routes highlighted four main suture-zones where lineages from the different refugia meet. Some of the intraspecific genetic distances among lineages indicated a prequaternary divergence that cannot be connected to any particular cold period, but are probably related mainly to the date of arrival of each taxon in the European continent. As a consequence, molecular genetics so far appears to be of limited use in dating Quaternary events.