Waiting through the ice age: a low altitude record of Daphne blagayana near its north-eastern distribution range limit (Danube Gorge, Carpathian Mountains)
Keywords:
relict, endemic, Quaternary, forest, habitat, protected areaAbstract
Daphne blagayana is a relict laurel forest species with a restricted distribution in southeastern Europe. It is also sporadic in Romania, where it was previously reported only from one location in the Apuseni Mountains and a few locations in the Southern Carpathians. We identified the Balkan Daphne in a region where it had not previously been reported, in the Danube Gorge (Iron Gates Natural Park) at about 4 km from the Danube, in the Banat Mountains, southwestern Romania. It populates steep slopes, covered with rare Quercus petraea forests in the upper basin of the Mraconia Valley. The altitude of only 647 m is lower than in other cases in Romania. The new distribution record is a connection between the populations from the Southern Carpathians and those from the Balkan Peninsula. During the last glacial maximum, the region likely served as a refugium for D. blagayana, as the Southern Carpathians also acted as a refugium for other species. From this region, it advanced along the Romanian Carpathians. The altitude of this population fits within a broader context, as in this region, other mountain species were recorded at lower altitudes than usual. This is true for the Mraconia Valley, thereby supporting its status as a refugium. Daphne blagayana represents a new proof of the Danube Gorge region's biogeographic peculiarities. Although D. blagayana is an endemic and relict species, it is not protected by law in Romania; however, its presence in a protected area and the region's difficult access will likely ensure its survival.
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