History of Tilia in Europe since the Eemian. Past distribution patterns

With the aim of reconstructing past distribution patterns of the genus Tilia in Europe from the Eemian interglacial to present, a number of over 2600 pollen and macrofossil records from the literature and from online databases have been examined. As for the Eemian, patterns inferred from pollen and supported by macrofossils reveal that Tilia was widespread and taxonomically diverse in Poland and adjacent regions, as well as in the East-European Plain, Britain, the Alpine region, and the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. In the early Weichselian interstadials (MIS 5c and 5a) the range of lime was much reduced, but still with occurrences in the Baltic Countries, Poland and Ukraine, in addition to southern Europe. During the Last Glacial Maximum lime did not take part in the zonal ecosystems of Europe, but its lateglacial and postglacial spread reflects the multiple locations and taxonomical pattern of glacial refugia, which were not limited to southern and mid-altitude Europe, but also included micro- and cryptorefugia in NW France and possibly in the eastern Baltic region and other regions. Lime spread rapidly over Europe in the Early Holocene, reaching its maximum diffusion around 7000 cal BP. Afterwards, Tilia declined and even disappeared in some areas at the northern and southern boundaries of its range. The generalist species T. cordata proved to be the most successful lime species under the pre-industrial Holocene climate, and likewise is found to be the most tolerant lime to increasing drought stress caused by Global Warming.