RESEARCH: OUTCOMES, VIEWPOINTS & PERSPECTIVES

Glacial refugia of temperate, Mediterranean and Ibero-North African flora in southern Spain

Pollen analyses from southern Spanish Neanderthal Man sites show persistence of abundant mesothermophilous trees during the last ice age, suggesting both localities were reservoirs of phytodiversity and woodland species. Deciduous and evergreen oaks are the most abundant components, followed by a wide variety of deciduous trees and sclerophyllous shrubs, including Ibero-North African xerothermic shrub near the coast
( SEE POLLEN DIAGRAM OF NEANDERTHAL MAN SITE).


I have contended that incomplete information underlies a common misapprehension that Iberian glacial refugia were confined to southernmost parts of the peninsula. A rather different picture of Quaternary refugia emerges from consideration of pollen sequences from caves (and other aspects such as macroscopic charcoal, spatial genetic structure of present-day populations, faunal remains, and present-day distribution of thermophilous species)
( SEE POLLEN DIAGRAM OF THE MOUSTERIAN SITE OF PERNERAS IN THE COAST OF MURCIA)
( SEE POLLEN DIAGRAM FROM THE SITE OF SIMA DE LAS PALOMAS).

This picture offers a view of numerous viable areas for woodland species in southern Spain, in addition to others in the mountain ranges both in continental central Spain and those of northern Spain which stretch from the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia to the westernmost extent of the Bay of Biscay.

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YLL, R., CARRIÓN, J.S., PANTALEÓN, J., DUPRÉ, M., LA ROCA, N., ROURE, J.M. & PÉREZ OBIOL, R. 2003. Palinología del Cuaternario reciente en la Laguna de Villena (Alicante). Anales de Biología 25: 65-72

CARRIÓN, J.S., YLL, WALKER, M.J., LEGAZ, A., CHAÍN, C., & LÓPEZ, A. 2003. Glacial refugia of temperate, Mediterranean and Ibero-North African flora in southeastern Spain: new evidence from cave pollen at two Neanderthal man sites. Global Ecology and Biogeography 12: 119-129

CARRIÓN, J.S. 2002. Patterns and processes of Late Quaternary environmental change in a montane region of southwestern Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 21: 2047-2066

CARRIÓN, J.S., MUNUERA, M., NAVARRO, C., BURJACHS, F., DUPRÉ, M. & WALKER, M. 1999. Palaeoecological potential of pollen records in caves: the case of Mediterranean Spain. Quaternary Science Reviews 18(8): 67-78

CARRIÓN, J.S. & VAN GEEL, B. 1999. Fine-resolution Upper Weichselian and Holocene palynological record from Navarrés (Valencia, Spain) and a discussion about factors of Mediterranean forest succession. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 106:209-236