Data from: The limited legacy of post-glacial recolonization in the floristic patterns of the European Alps

Past glacial periods were highly disruptive to plant species distributions
in mid-latitude mountain belts, such as the European Alps, and drove many
species to survive in peripheral or nunatak refugia. Progressive glacial
retreat during the late Pleistocene and Holocene is thought to have
triggered a mass recolonization event in the European Alps. Here, we asked
whether this recolonization event has left a spatial legacy in the
floristic patterns of the extant Alpine flora, and if so, how strongly
this determines floristic patterns in comparison to present-day landscape
and climatic drivers. We built on approximately 6 million data points
sourced from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and herbaria to
build plant species ranges within a 10 x 10 km grid system laid across the
European Alps, and then calculated species assemblage turnover across the
grid. Additionally, we used a recent species-level molecular phylogeny
encompassing over 80% of the Alpine flora to calculate standardized
phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic endemism and phylogenetic turnover
between grid cells. Using spatial autoregressive and generalised
dissimilarity modelling, we showed that all floristic measures vary
significantly, albeit weakly, with three key post-glacial variables:
climate change velocity, time since deglaciation, and distance from the
nearest refugium. Unexpectedly, differences in species’ dispersal ability
did not explain these patterns. The post-glacial variables have little
explanatory power relative to contemporary climate and landscape drivers.
We conclude that postglacial recolonization of the Alps is largely
complete for the flora as a whole, and that the spatial structure of the
extant flora is primarily driven by the contemporary environmental
conditions.