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Climate-Driven Shifts in the Distribution of Valonia Oak from the Last Glaciation to the Antropocene    
Yazarlar (9)
Ali Uğur Özcan
Çankiri Karatekin Üniversitesi, Turkey
Derya Gülçin
Universidad Católica de Ávila, Spain
Javier López-Tirado
Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Prof. Dr. Sezgin AYAN Prof. Dr. Sezgin AYAN
Kastamonu Üniversitesi, Türkiye
Jean Stephan
Université Libanaise, Lebanon
Javier Velázquez
Universidad Católica de Ávila, Spain
İhsan Çiçek
Ankara Üniversitesi, Turkey
Mehmet Sezgin
Çankiri Karatekin Üniversitesi, Turkey
Kerim Çiçek
Universidad Católica de Ávila, Spain
Devamını Göster
Özet
The Quercus genus is found across a broad latitudinal range, and its spread in heterogeneous ecosystems is influenced by environmental, genetic, and anthropogenic factors. However, Mediterranean oak ecosystems, in particular, have been significantly impacted by climate-driven shifts. These shifts reshape the composition and spatial configuration of a great number of species. Here, this study evaluates the impact of climate change on the habitat suitability of Valonia oak (Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Kotschy) Hedge & Yalt.) and particularly focuses on understanding whether its population is native or was introduced to the Karagüney Mountains, Türkiye. Using ecological niche modeling with MaxEnt and climate data from CHELSA-TraCE21k (a 1 km climate time series), we built 120 models to analyze the habitat suitability of Valonia oak across different climatic periods from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (21 ka BP) to the present. The results indicate that habitat suitability is primarily influenced by temperature- and precipitation-related variables. In fact, temperature fluctuations clearly affect the target species of this study. The most significant factors are the mean diurnal temperature range (bio2; 33.1%), precipitation in the wettest month (bio13; 19%), and mean annual temperature (bio1; 16.7%). Paleoclimatic predictions show that suitable habitats contracted during the early Holocene but expanded afterward, with current distributions aligning more closely with the natural range. In other words, it can be stated that Valonia oak’s habitat suitability has gradually improved from the LGM to the present, with both the total and natural ranges expanding over time. The results indicate that the species has demonstrated long-term stability, resilience, and adaptability to climate change, making it a potential alternative species for future climate scenarios. In addition, the data support the hypothesis that the species’ population in the Karagüney Mountains is relict, but was previously unrecognized as native. This study improves our knowledge about the distribution and environmental preferences of Valonia oak, which is important for underpinning its conservation strategies.
Anahtar Kelimeler
ecological niche modeling | Karagüney Mountains | macro- and microrefugia | maximum entropy | paleoclimatic projections
Makale Türü Özgün Makale
Makale Alt Türü SSCI, AHCI, SCI, SCI-Exp dergilerinde yayımlanan tam makale
Dergi Adı Forests
Dergi ISSN 1999-4907 Wos Dergi Scopus Dergi
Dergi Grubu Q1
Makale Dili İngilizce
Basım Tarihi 05-2025
Cilt No 16
Sayı 5
Doi Numarası 10.3390/f16050776