1.36 million years of Mediterranean forest refugium dynamics in response to glacial–interglacial cycle strength

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026111118
• Publication Date: 2021-08-16T20:30:16Z
• Authors: Timme Donders; Konstantinos Pana...; Andreas Koutsoden...; Adele Bertini; Anna Maria Mercuri; Alessia Masi; Nathalie Combouri...; Sébastien Joannin; Katerina Kouli; Ilias Kousis; Odile Peyron; Paola Torri; Assunta Florenzano; Alexander Francke; Bernd Wagner; Laura Sadori
• Keywords: Refugium (fishkeeping); Last Glacial Maximum; Fragmentation; Desertification

Significance Forest conservation and restoration are important means to counter threats caused by habitat fragmentation global change. Diverse resilient forests can only be maintained if we understand their sensitivity past climate The sedimentary record of the oldest extant lake in Europe, Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia, Albania), shows survival extinction tree species during glacial interglacial stages (G–IG) Quaternary. Pollen analysis reveals that area was an effective refuge for populations through G–IG periods. body locally buffered climate, allowing repeated recovery were close disappearance. However, extended periods aridity intensification after 0.94 Ma many taxa disappear.