Journal of Biogeography
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Range dynamics of the reindeer in Europe during the last 25,000 years
Robert S. Sommer, Johannes Kalbe, Jonas Ekström, Norbert Benecke and Ronnie Liljegren
Appendix S2: Climatic events and environmental characteristics in Central Europe and possible
consequences for the reindeer.
Climate phase
following Table 1 and
Figure 3
Events and environmental
characteristics in Central Europe
Possible consequences for the reindeer
in Central Europe
Last Glacial Maximum
maximum cooling, maximum advance
of the ice sheets, all regions of Central
Europe affected by permafrost, most
southerly extent of open landscapes
most southerly late Quaternary
distribution in Europe
Early Late Glacial
onset of the last deglaciation, complete
deglaciation of the Northern European
Lowlands
increasing colonization opportunities in
the Northern European Lowlands
Greenland Interstadial
(GI) 1d-e
rise of annual mean temperatures,
general change of vegetation from a
open steppe-tundra to a vegetation
dominated by tree birch and shrubs,
decline of grass vegetation
slight decline of optimal habitat quality
Greenland Interstadial
increasing extent of woodlands
dominated by birch and pine (changing
dominance), replacement of subarctic
vegetation by open forests
increasingly restricted colonization
opportunities, increased extinction risk in
pine dominated forests (cf. Sommer et al.,
2011)
abrupt cooling, replacement of open
woodlands by subarctic vegetation
(park tundra) in the Northern European
Lowlands, survival of light birch-pine
forests in southern Central Europe
increasing quality of habitats in all areas
of Europe but mainly in the Lowlands,
possible migration events during cold
episodes from the Lowlands to southwestern and south-eastern Europe
Preboreal
extremely rapid rise in annual mean
temperatures (within 1–3 years) of
about 7 °C, reafforestation of northern
Europe by birch-pine forests,
dominated by birch, later dominated by
pine
considerable decrease of available
habitats, because of dominant birch in the
Lowlands, extirpation in pine dominated
forests (cf. Sommer et al., 2011)
Boreal
annual mean temperature c. 1 °C higher
than today, dominance of pinewoods
with high understorey of hazel,
increased immigration of temperate
tree species such as oak, lime, elm and
alder
survival in Central Europe seems no
longer possible; however, continued
survival in northern regions e.g.
Scandinavia because of the climatic
gradient from north to south (cf. Sommer
et al., 2011)
(sensu lato)
(GI) 1a-c
(Allerød-warming)
Greenland Stadial 1
GS 1
(Younger Dryas cooling)
REFERENCE
Sommer, R.S., Fritz, U., Seppä, H., Ekström, J., Persson, A. & Liljegren, R. (2011) When the pond turtle followed the
reindeer: insights in the climate driven timing of post-glacial faunal change in Northern Europe. Global Change
Biology, 17, 2049–2053.