The Carpathians as a Major Diversity Hotspot in Europe

Abstract

The Carpathians are one of the major mountain ranges of Europe, but still one of its least studied regions. It is increasingly recognized that they played a major role in the formation and Pleistocene survival of numerous continental, arctic, and arctic[long dash]alpine taxa. Many endemic taxa have been described from these mountains. The number of phylogeographic/phylogenetic studies covering at least partially the Carpathians is also increasing. These studies reveal unevenly distributed genetic and taxonomic diversity. In this work, we analyse population genetic structures in the Carpathians revealed by case studies on aquatic insects, comparing them to existing literature data on plants, butterflies, vertebrates, and the distribution of several microendemics. The distribution of molecular lineages and/or microendemics show strong biogeographic structures within the Carpathians. The overlap between the distribution barriers of microendemics and intraspecific molecular lineages suggests that isolation of populations among the major Carpathian ranges (Western Carpathians, Eastern Carpathians, Apuseni Mts, Southern Carpathians, Banat and Serbian Carpathians) played a major role in promoting Carpathian diversity.