Plant phylogeography of the Balkan Peninsula: spatiotemporal patterns and processes

Španiel, Stanislav; Rešetnik, Ivana

doi:10.1007/s00606-022-01831-1

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 221 publications

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“…Biogeographic links between the Eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula are common (Schmitt, 2009) and have been documented in several cases (Španiel & Rešetnik, 2022), including A. wulfenianum and A. bosniacum (Magauer et al, 2014, and present results). Disjunctly distributed Eastern Alpine-Balkan species or pairs of closely related taxa may reflect different biogeographic events, such as a past range expansion from either the Alps towards the adjacent Dinarides and further south (Naciri & Gaudeul, 2007; or vice versa (Kuzmanović et al, 2021), fragmentation of a previously continuous range, or LDD (Surina et al, 2014).…”

Section: Alyssum Cognense a New Alpine Endemic Species Recognized In ...supporting

confidence: 63%

Out of the Balkans and Anatolia to the Western Alps? Surprising phylogenetic implications for two endemicAlyssum(Brassicaceae) species:A. cognensesp. nov. andA. rossetii

Španiel

Juillerat

Kaplan

et al. 2022

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

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The European Alps show a high degree of endemism associated mainly with the location of glacial refugia and environmental heterogeneity. Several Alpine endemics have evolved in the genus Alyssum. Here we study perennial Alyssum populations in the Western Alps, mainly distributed in the Aosta Valley region, which hosts high species diversity, although endemics are rare. We addressed the recently described stenoendemic A. rossetii and taxonomically uncertain populations usually attributed to A. montanum s.s. to clarify their phylogenetic position and morphological differentiation. The latter entity has been shown to be distinct from A. montanum s.s. and is described as a new species, Alyssum cognense, phylogenetically placed in the A. montanum–A. repens species complex. Both morphological and genetic patterns revealed that its closest relative occurs in the central Balkans. We present detailed ecological characteristics and morphological differentiation of A. cognense sp. nov. from its relatives and geographically closest species and speculate on its biogeographic origin. Genetic patterns (reduced diversity and nestedness) suggest long-distance dispersal from the central Balkan Peninsula. The second studied species, A. rossetii, is phylogenetically distant and belongs to the mainly Asian Alyssum section Gamosepalum lineage, which includes few representatives in southern and eastern Europe. The phylogenetically closest species of A. rossetii are Anatolian endemics, so this extreme disjunction remains puzzling. The present study illustrates the need for in-depth taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, even in well-explored Alpine regions, and also shows that the processes underlying the evolution of endemics can be complex and poorly understood.

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Section: Alyssum Cognense a New Alpine Endemic Species Recognized In ...supporting

confidence: 63%

Out of the Balkans and Anatolia to the Western Alps? Surprising phylogenetic implications for two endemicAlyssum(Brassicaceae) species:A. cognensesp. nov. andA. rossetii

Španiel

Juillerat

Kaplan

et al. 2022

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

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“…We collected information on 1435 taxa (1351 at the level of species and 84 subspecies) in the coniferous forests of the Balkan Peninsula, with 65,289 species-occurrence data. This number of taxa represented 22% of the estimated total number of vascular plant taxa in the Balkan Peninsula [ 36 , 47 , 61 ] and 12% of the total European flora [ 62 ] Considering that in the Alps, as a major European mountain system, approximately 5500 species have been recorded [ 62 ], the number of 1435 taxa recorded only in the coniferous forests of the mountain systems of the central part of the Balkan Peninsula represented a considerable species richness.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this point it should be added that numerous data confirm the existence of several refugia in the Balkan Peninsula (“refugia-within-refugia” model—Gómez and Lunt 2007 [ 103 ]). Within these smaller, isolated and ecologically distinct refugia, populations not only survived and maintained their genetic diversity, but also genetically differentiated [ 61 , 104 ]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytogeographic Characteristics of Montane Coniferous Forests of the Central Balkan Peninsula (SE Europe)

Ilić¹,

Kuzmanović²,

Vukojičić³

et al. 2022

Plants

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We investigated taxonomic and endemic richness, patterns of spatial distribution, cenotic and spatial diversification, and chorological and life form spectra of montane coniferous forests in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. We collected information on 1435 taxa (1351 at the level of species and 84 subspecies) with 65,289 species-occurrence data, published in 1930 original plots with a total area of about 215 ha in the analysis. All statistical analyses (univariate and multivariate) were performed on binary matrices prepared for different levels of analysis. Our main results showed that the montane coniferous forests of the central Balkan Peninsula represent very species-rich vegetation. At the same time, the high proportion of endemics indicated that the montane coniferous forests of the central Balkan Peninsula differ significantly from Central European and boreal forests of a similar type. Furthermore, we found that there were regional differences in the species composition of the coniferous forests of the Balkan Peninsula, and that the primary centers of floristic richness are located in the area of the central and continental Dinarides. This latter finding suggested that the true centers of the richness of European coniferous forests are located south of the Limestone Alps—Western Dinarides—Carpathian Foothills line in Romania, which used to be considered the center of the richness of the coniferous forests in Europe.

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“…Biogeographers have, since the origin of the discipline, identified barriers all over the world, which define distribution limits across different organisms (Wallace, 1863). Barriers coinciding with deep valleys have been identified in many mountainous regions of the world; at the intraspecific level, these valleys define genetic splits, which are often congruent across codistributed species (Antonelli et al., 2009; Qiu et al., 2011; Španiel & Rešetnik, 2022). The role of major valleys as barriers has also been highlighted in the European Alps (Gugerli et al., 2023; Thiel‐Egenter et al., 2011; Tribsch, 2004), with the Aosta Valley and the “Brenner Line” emerging as the most prominent barriers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival in nunatak and peripheral glacial refugia of three alpine plant species is partly predicted by altitudinal segregation

Rota,

Carnicero,

Casazza

et al. 2024

Molecular Ecology

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Mountain biota survived the Quaternary cold stages most probably in peripheral refugia and/or ice‐free peaks within ice‐sheets (nunataks). While survival in peripheral refugia has been broadly demonstrated, evidence for nunatak refugia is still scarce. We generated RADseq data from three mountain plant species occurring at different elevations in the southeastern European Alps to investigate the role of different glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We tested the following hypotheses. (i) The deep Piave Valley forms the deepest genetic split in the species distributed across it, delimiting two peripheral refugia. (ii) The montane to alpine species Campanula morettiana and Primula tyrolensis survived the LGM in peripheral refugia, while high‐alpine to subnival Saxifraga facchinii likely survived in several nunatak refugia. (iii) The lower elevation species suffered a strong population decline during the LGM. By contrast, the higher elevation species shows long‐term stability of population sizes due to survival on permanently ice‐free peaks and small population sizes at present. We found peripheral refugia on both sides of the Piave Valley, which acted as a major genetic barrier. Demographic modelling confirmed nunatak survival not only for S. facchinii but also for montane to alpine C. morettiana. Altitudinal segregation influenced the species' demographic fluctuations, with the lower elevation species showing a significant population increase at the end of the LGM, and the higher elevation species either showing decrease towards the present or stable population sizes with a short bottleneck. Our results highlight the role of nunatak survival and species ecology in the demographic history of mountain species.

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Plant phylogeography of the Balkan Peninsula: spatiotemporal patterns and processes

Cited by 17 publications

References 221 publications

Out of the Balkans and Anatolia to the Western Alps? Surprising phylogenetic implications for two endemicAlyssum(Brassicaceae) species:A. cognensesp. nov. andA. rossetii

Out of the Balkans and Anatolia to the Western Alps? Surprising phylogenetic implications for two endemicAlyssum(Brassicaceae) species:A. cognensesp. nov. andA. rossetii

Phytogeographic Characteristics of Montane Coniferous Forests of the Central Balkan Peninsula (SE Europe)

Survival in nunatak and peripheral glacial refugia of three alpine plant species is partly predicted by altitudinal segregation

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