Geographic and climatic constraints on bioregionalization of European ants

Aim: Biogeographic regionalization is scant for most insect groups due to shortfalls in distribution and phylogenetic information, namely the Wallacean and Darwinian shortfalls respectively. Here, we focused on the European ants and compared new techniques to classical analyses based on regional lists and taxonomic methods. We asked the following: 1) Can grid-based regionalizations using novel distribution data improve biogeographic transitions? and 2) Can phylogenetic approaches reveal new insights regarding ant evolutionary history?
Location: Europe and Anatolia.
Taxon: Ants (Formicidae).
Methods: First, we developed a refined database integrating the occurrences of 747 ant species across 207 regions of Europe and Anatolia, based on newly expert-validated records derived from the existing Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI) database. Using range estimates for these species derived from polygons and species distribution modelling, we produced species assemblages in 50 × 50 km gr...