Titel
Long-term isolation of European steppe outposts boosts the biome’s conservation value
Autor*in
The STEPPE Consortium
Eliška Záveská
Department of Botany, University of Innsbruck
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Abstract
The European steppes and their biota have been hypothesized to be either young remnants of the Pleistocene steppe belt or, alternatively, to represent relicts of long-term persisting populations; both scenarios directly bear on nature conservation priorities. Here, we evaluate the conservation value of threatened disjunct steppic grassland habitats in Europe in the context of the Eurasian steppe biome. We use genomic data and ecological niche modelling to assess pre-defined, biome-specific criteria for three plant and three arthropod species. We show that the evolutionary history of Eurasian steppe biota is strikingly congruent across species. The biota of European steppe outposts were long-term isolated from the Asian steppes, and European steppes emerged as disproportionally conservation relevant, harbouring regionally endemic genetic lineages, large genetic diversity, and a mosaic of stable refugia. We emphasize that conserving what is left of Europe’s steppes is crucial for conserving the biological diversity of the entire Eurasian steppe biome.
Stichwort
BiogeographyConservation biologyEcological modellingEvolutionary ecologyPhylogenetics
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1415829
Erschienen in
Titel
Nature Communications
Band
11
ISSN
2041-1723
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Publication
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Fördergeber
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) — P25955
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© The Author(s) 2020
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