Data from: Unravelling the evolutionary history and future prospects of endemic species restricted to former glacial refugia

The contemporary distribution and genetic composition of biodiversity bear
a signature of species’ evolutionary histories and the effects of past
climatic oscillations. For many European species, the Mediterranean
peninsulas of Iberia, Italy and the Balkans acted as glacial refugia and
the source of range recolonization, and as a result, they contain
disproportionately high levels of diversity. As these areas are
particularly threatened by future climate change, it is important to
understand how past climatic changes affected their biodiversity. We use
an integrated approach, combining markers with different evolutionary
rates and combining phylogenetic analysis with approximate Bayesian
computation and species distribution modelling across temporal scales. We
relate phylogeographic processes to patterns of genetic variation in
Myotis escalerai, a bat species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. We found
a distinct population structure at the mitochondrial level with a strong
geographic signature, indicating lineage divergence into separate glacial
refugia within the Iberian refugium. However, microsatellite markers
suggest higher levels of gene flow resulting in more limited structure at
recent time frames. The evolutionary history of M. escalerai was shaped by
the effects of climatic oscillations and changes in forest cover and
composition, while its future is threatened by climatically induced range
contractions and the role of ecological barriers due to competition
interactions in restricting its distribution. This study warns that
Mediterranean peninsulas, which provided refuge for European biodiversity
during past glaciation events, may become a trap for limited dispersal and
ecologically limited endemic species under future climate change,
resulting in loss of entire lineages.