GIS-modeling of the Range Shifts of the Sub-fossil and Extant European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in Eastern Europe in Holocene

Oksana Nekrasova,Mihails Pupins,Volodymyr Tytar,Yevheniia Yanish

doi:10.3390/d11080121

Oksana Nekrasova, Mihails Pupins + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/d11080121

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Abstract

The study of the dynamics of the European pond turtle’s Emys orbicularis range and distribution as an indicator of climate change in the past, present, and future is most relevant in connection with the protected status of this species in Europe. Based on our original finds, 25 archaeological sites yielding 1623 remains of 1504 individuals of subfossil pond turtles, current marginal distribution in Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, and literature data, we analyzed 437 records of Holocene turtles and 2847 current records of pond turtles. We identified areas that could serve as refugia for E. orbicularis, as a result of GIS modeling, while using 19 bioclimatic variables from the Worldclim and PaleoClim data bases. The data obtained confirm current hypotheses regarding the origin of more than 10 mtDNA lineages of E. orbicularis and the existence of multiple glacial refugia, and considerable Holocene home range dynamics.

Highlights

The literature presents data on the reconstruction of fluctuations of the European pond turtle’sEmys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) home range during the Holocene period for Northern and CentralEurope [1,2,3,4]
Our research in Latvia [15,16,17,18,19], Russia, and Ukraine most fully helped to study the current distribution of the pond turtle
We discovered areas that in the past could serve as glacial refugia for E. orbicularis by performing a GIS-modeling procedure and using

Summary

Introduction

The literature presents data on the reconstruction of fluctuations of the European pond turtle’sEmys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) home range during the Holocene period for Northern and CentralEurope [1,2,3,4]. Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758) home range during the Holocene period for Northern and Central. After the glaciers’ melting in the early Holocene, the turtle experienced a rapid expansion of its range, and there are findings of subfossil records of E. orbicularis in the Northern and Baltic seas, including the United Kingdom, Baltic countries, Sweden, Finland, Belarus, and Russia [4,5,6,7,8]. The expansion of the turtle range coincided with the Holocene climatic optimum about 10,100–5700 years ago [9]. 10,300 years ago, whereas the pond turtle colonized the area ca. In the following climatic optimum (Atlantic), the temperatures remained 2.5 ◦ C higher than today for nearly. The home area of the turtle underwent fluctuations, depending on temperature and other factors. European pond turtles probably served as food for prehistoric humans in Vorarlberg, as indicated by the presence of turtles’ bones in prehistoric settlements [11]

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