In light of current debates on global climate change it has become important to know more on how large, roaming species have responded to environmental change in the past. Using the highly variable mitochondrial control region, we revisit theories of Rangifer colonization and propose that the High Arctic archipelagos of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and Novaia Zemlia were colonized by reindeer from the Eurasian mainland after the last glacial maximum. Comparing mtDNA control region sequences from the three Arctic archipelagos showed a strong genetic connection between the populations, supporting a common origin in the past. A genetic connection between the three archipelagos and two Russian mainland populations was also found, suggesting colonization of the Eurasian high Arctic archipelagos from the Eurasian mainland. The age of the Franz Josef Land material (>2000 years before present) implies that Arctic indigenous reindeer colonized the Eurasian Arctic archipelagos through natural dispersal, before humans approached this region.
The article presents summary data on the wild reindeer's (Rangifer tarandus) distribution on islands in the Russian Arctic. It discusses the abundance, diet, and general state of knowledge about the species in remote areas, especially on Novaya Zemlya and Wrangel Island. Brief data are provided about domestic reindeer grazing on the Arctic islands. Literature data are complemented with research findings in recent years. A negative trend is demonstrated in the wild reindeer abundance; also the need for studying isolated populations is emphasised.
Norwegian Lemming Lemmus lemmus is a remarkable population cycling species having a number of aposematic traits in coloration and behavior. This species was thought to be the only mammal endemic to Fennoscandia. Here, we report on the discovery of a distinct lineage of this species from Novaya Zemlya. This lineage is described here as the new subspecies Lemmus lemmus chernovi ssp. nov. that morphologically differs from the nominate subspecies by having a cryptic coloration. Our time-calibrated phylogeny revealed that this insular subspecies was isolated there since the Eemian interglacial (mean age 93 Ka). Hence, bright coloration and antipredator behavior of the nominate subspecies are novel aposematic traits that evolved since its isolation in a European refugium. This new discovery indicates that Novaya Zemlya supported a cryptic polar refugium for cold-adapted terrestrial fauna during the Pleistocene. Finally, our findings highlight that allopatric ranges of the true lemmings (Lemmus) reflect stepwise range expansions in cold climatic episodes with subsequent isolation in refugia during interglacial events.
Although migrant butterflies are rare (or sporadically seen) guests on the Arctic Ocean islands, there is a slowly growing dataset on repeated occurrences of these insects in insular tundra and polar deserts. Altogether six long-distance migrant butterfly species were found to cross wide marine barriers north of the Arctic Circle (66.56°N), i.e. Vanessa atalanta, V. cardui, Nymphalis antiopa, N. xanthomelas, Aporia crataegi, and Pieris napi. Migrant individuals of V. cardui discovered on Svalbard (up to 78.27°N in 1978) reflect the farthest dispersal event of butterflies to the Arctic ever reported. Our record of N. xanthomelas at the northern margin of Novaya Zemlya (76.95°N) represents the northernmost finding of this species globally, reflecting the world’s second farthest record of northern poleward immigration of butterflies. This occurrence coincides with an exceptionally warm summer season, when the third highest July and second highest August air temperature occurred (since global records began in 1880). Furthermore, the immigration into Novaya Zemlya coincides with a population explosion and massive expansion of N. xanthomelas in Siberia in 2019–2020. Our air current reconstructions indicate that this species most likely immigrated into Novaya Zemlya from mainland regions situated south-southeast (Polar Urals, Yugorsky Peninsula, and western Yamal) and east (Taymyr) of the archipelago. Overall, our findings reveal that long-distance dispersal events of butterflies to the Arctic islands are always linked to massive expansions of the corresponding species in mainland areas.
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