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THE MAIN VICISSITUDES OF THE EUROPEAN AVIFAUNA SINCE THE PLIOCENE
Author(s) -
Moreau R. E.
Publication year - 1954
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.1954.tb02333.x
Subject(s) - interglacial , glacial period , tundra , pleistocene , woodland , range (aeronautics) , geography , physical geography , last glacial maximum , mediterranean climate , vegetation (pathology) , ecology , deciduous , geology , paleontology , oceanography , arctic , archaeology , biology , medicine , materials science , composite material , pathology
Summary. .1. Recent knowledge of the Pleistocene and subsequent ecological changes is summarized. Four glaciations are recognized, each with more than one maximum. The interglacials were all at least as warm as the present day. 2. A map shows the vegetation belts of Europe and the probable limits of permanent sea‐ice at the height of the Last Glaciation, about 70,000 years ago. There is reason to believe that the main features of the vegetation‐map would apply also to the height of the other glaciations. 3. The avian fossil data are discussed and for the most part of necessity rejected for the present purpose. 4. The main inferences drawn of bird distribution at a glacial maximum are that ( a ) a rich avifauna occupied the treeless (grassy) loess‐tundra on the southern edge of the ice, ( b ) practically no arboreal birds could live north of the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Black Sea except in a strip across central Russia, ( c ) the birds of deciduous woodland were confined to part of the three Mediterranean peninsulas, ( d ) “Mediterranean” species were practically expelled from Europe. 5. This implies that the populations of coniferous forest must have been reduced to about one‐third of their interglacial extent in Europe and those of deciduous woodlands to one‐tenth. Most of the sea‐bird species probably suffered less severe fluctuations in numbers, but underwent north‐and‐south changes in breeding range. 6. The post‐glacial recovery of the climate has not been uninterrupted, so that in the last 80,000 years there have probably been only about 8000 during which there have been any arboreal birds north of Germany. 7. The implications of the changes on the details of the migration system are discussed.