The Effects of the Late Quaternary Glacial-Interglacial Cycles on the Biodiversity of Anatolia

Abstract

Large continental ice-sheets in the Northern Hemisphere have grown and retreated many times throughout the Quaternary. Times with and without large continental ice-sheets are known as glacial and interglacial periods, respectively. Strong climatic fluctuations accompanying glacial-interglacial cycles forced species to either move to locations that remain suitable, adapt to changing environmental conditions, or go extinct. Range shifts are the most conspicuous and best documented responses of species to these climatic fluctuations. To understand how species have responded to global climate changes through the Late Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles, ecological niche modelling, together with molecular phylogeography, has been widely used in recent biogeographic studies. Ecological niche modelling, together with molecular phylogeography, will extend the Quaternary dynamics and evolutionary history of species living in Anatolia and therefore the understanding of the biogeography of Anatolia. In this article, a few examples regarding bird and mammal species were given to illustrate the above-mentioned contents, and the future perspectives were discussed.