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THE POST-GLACIAL COLONIZATION OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC ISLANDS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J.A. Downes
J.A. Downes*
Affiliation:
Lyman Entomological Museum and Research Laboratory, Macdonald College of McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X lC0 and Zoology Division, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4
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Abstract

The paper discusses the nature and origins of the present-day insect faunas of Greenland, Iceland, and the Faeroes in relation to those of North America and Europe. The markedly warm-adapted faunas of the Early Tertiary were modified or eliminated as the climate cooled from the Oligocene onward to the Pleistocene glaciations. The Wisconsinan glaciation peaked about 20 000 years ago, and then gave way rapidly to the arctic and cool temperate climates of the present, and the North Atlantic islands thus became habitable again but separated by wide expanses of northern seas. At most only a few strongly arctic-adapted species could have persisted through the Pleistocene and no land bridges from the continents have existed since the Early Miocene, 20 million years ago.Southern Greenland, Iceland, and the Faeroes have been colonized across sea passages from the adjacent continents, mainly by air but partly by sea, during the postglacial period (ca. 10 000 years). The faunas are all young, with no endemic species among about 2000 in all; the faunas are not arctic but distinctly subarctic, mainly of the High and Low Boreal life zones, and derived from these life zones of North America or Europe. The naturally established faunas are small or very small, less than 14% of the corresponding continental faunas, and are obviously disharmonic, with some groups absent across the North Atlantic, e.g. Culicidae, Tabanidae, Tachinidae, Papilionoidea, aculeate Hymenoptera (except Bombus sp.). This indicates a severe "sweepstakes" route. The lack of Tachinidae is noteworthy because their hosts are plentiful, and indicates dispersal by air, with adult Tachinidae, unlike adult Lepidoptera, unable to make the journey; dispersal by a land bridge would offer parasites and hosts an equal opportunity. Aerial transport is indicated also by the high proportion of migrant species (of Lepidoptera) in the island faunas, and the arrival in Surtsey (a new volcanic island) of almost 25% of the Icelandic fauna in 12 years. The Surtsey observations suggest that the Icelandic fauna is preadapted to aerial dispersal, by selection during its journey from Europe.The fauna of southern Greenland is derived partly from boreal America and partly from boreal Europe. The North American moiety becomes vestigial in Iceland and the Faeroes and does not reach Europe. Iceland and the Faeroes have been populated from northwestern Europe, especially Britain and Scandinavia. A few species extend to southern Greenland and thence, or even directly, reach North America, and have thus completed a post-glacial traverse of the North Atlantic.The fauna of North Greenland differs fundamentally from all the above. It is a high arctic fauna, nearly identical with the high arctic fauna in Canada, and thus complete, not disharmonie, though very small by virtue of its high arctic nature. It has encountered no "sweepstakes" dispersal. North Greenland is separated from High Arctic Canada only by a narrow channel which permits winter dispersal by wind across unbroken sea ice. Biologically, North Greenland is part of the North American High Arctic, and although certain species (e.g. mosquitoes and butterflies) may extend somewhat into southern Greenland, it has not contributed to the basic faunas of the North Atlantic islands.Among other problems, the extreme variability in wing pattern of many Lepidoptera in Iceland, the Faeroes, and Shetland is also commented on.

Résumé

Cet article traite de la nature et des origines des faunes entomologiques actuelles du Groënland, de l'Islande et des Iles Féroés, en rapport avec celles de l'Amérique du Nord et de l'Europe. Les faunes particulièrement bien adaptées au climat doux du début du Tertiaire ont été modifiées ou éliminées lors du refroidissement du climat de l'Oligocène jusqu'aux glaciations du Pléistocène. La glaciation Wisconsinienne a culminé il y a environ 20 000 ans, pour ensuite céder rapidement la place aux climats arctique et tempéré froids actuels; les îles de l'Atlantique Nord devinrent alors de nouveau habitables, bien qu'isolées par de larges étendues de mers nordiques. Au mieux, seulement quelques espèces très bien adaptées à l'arctique ont persisté au cours du Pléistocène, et aucun pont de terre avec les continents n'a existé depuis le début du Miocène, il y a 20 millions d'années.Le sud du Groënland, l'Islande et les Féroés ont été colonisés par dessus les mers à partir des continents adjacents, principalement par la voie des airs mais aussi celle des mers, durant la période post-glaciaire (environ 10 000 ans). Les faunes y sont jeunes, sans aucune espèce endémique sur un total d'environ 2000; ces faunes ne sont pas de type arctique, mais plutôt subarctique, caractéristiques des bio-régions du Haut et du Bas Boréal, et provenant de ces bio-régions d'Amérique du Nord ou d'Europe. Les faunes implantées naturellement sont petites ou très petites, représentant moins de 14% des faunes continentales correspondantes, et sont évidemment discordantes, avec plusieurs groupes absents dans tout le Nord-Atlantique : les Culicidae, Tabanidae, Tachinidae, Papilionoidea et Hymenoptera aculéates (à l'exception de Bombus sp.). Elles semblent résulter d'une "loterie" très discriminante. L'absence des Tachinidae est remarquable étant donné que leurs hôtes sont abondants; elle indique une dispersion par voie des airs, les tachines adultes étant incapables de faire le voyage, contrairement aux Lépidoptères adultes; une invasion par voie de terre aurait permis l'accès égal des hôtes et des parasites. L'accès par air est aussi indiqué par la proportion élevée d'espèces migrantes (de lépidoptères) dans la faune des îles, et l'arrivée à Surtsey (une nouvelle île volcanique) d'environ 25% de la faune islandique en 12 ans. Les observations de Surtsey indiquent que la faune islandique est préadaptée à la dispersion aérienne, par une forte sélection au cours de son émigration d'Europe.La faune du sud du Groënland est dérivée en partie de l'Amérique boréale et de l'Europe boréale. La fraction Nord-Américaine est vestigiale en Islande et aux Féroés et n'atteint pas l'Europe. L'islande et les Féroés ont été colonisées à partir du nord-ouest de l'Europe, surtout les Iles Britanniques et la Scandinavie. Quelques espèces s'étendent jusqu'au sud du Groënland, et de là, ou par voie directe, ont atteint l'Amérique du Nord, pour compléter ainsi la traversée post-glaciaire de l'Atlantique Nord.La faune du nord du Groënland diffère fondamentalement des autres mentionnées ci-dessus. Il s'agit d'une faune de Haut Arctique, presque identique à la faune du Haut Arctique Canadien, et donc complète et non-discordante quoique de petite taille vu son caractère haut arctique. Elle ne présente pas de cas de dispersion du type "loterie". Le Groënland Nord n'est séparé du Haut Arctique Canadien que par un mince détroit qui permet la dispersion hivernale par le vent au dessus des glaces. Biologiquement, le Groënland Nord fait partie du Haut Arctique Nord Américain, et quoique certaines espèces (par ex. des maringouins et des papillons) s'étendent quelque peu au Sud du Groenland, le Nord n'a pas contribué aux faunes des Iles de l'Atlantique Nord.Parmi d'autres problèmes, la variabilité extrême des motifs alaires de plusieurs Lepidoptera de l'Islande, des Féroés et de Shetland est aussi commentée.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada , Volume 120 , Supplement S144 , 1988 , pp. 55 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

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