Quaternary range dynamics in alpine plants

The Quaternary climate fluctuations profoundly affected range and demographic dynamics of high-mountain species. Two alternative hypotheses, interglacial contraction and interglacial expansion, have been proposed to describe range shifts of cold-adapted species in response to climate changes. Whether a species expanded its range during cold periods (interglacial contraction) or during warm periods (interglacial expansion) is expected to depend on the species’ habitat preference. Here, we test these hypotheses using eight alpine plant species that differ in their habitat preferences (one insect and one wind-pollinated species each in four main alpine habitat types).