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Endemism and diversity in European montane mammals: macro-ecological patterns


 Mountains are important landforms with regard to both biodiversity and evolution of endemism. We analysed macro-ecological patterns of distribution and endemism of European montane (i.e. with at least 70% of their range inside mountain areas) mammals. The landscape of the study area was characterized by three environmental variables: land cover, land-use and elevation. For each species, we collected spatially explicit information on the extent of occurrence, level of endemicity, conservation status, habitat preferences, elevation range and all the available presence points. Montane species accounted for 25.5% of the total (N = 66), whereas lowland species (N = 193) accounted for 74.5% of the total European mammals. There was a significantly lower mean range in size of montane species compared to non-montane species. There was a negative correlation between the number of species and elevation, and a negative correlation between median elevation of the range of a given species and its extent of occurrence. The highest peak in the percentage of species present in each altitudinal band was observed at lower elevations in the lower altitude mountain chains. There was a significantly negative correlation between elevation and Simpson’s index of habitats, but species richness increased significantly with Simpson’s index of habitat diversity. A total of 122 species (40.7%) were European endemics, with the frequencies of endemic species not being different between montane areas and overall. A logistic regression model showed that, for a given species, being montane also enhanced the probability of being endemic to Europe. Montane species are especially concentrated in the Caucasus, along the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. The area of the various mountain chains did not influence either the number of montane species or the number of montane species that are strictly endemic to that mountain chain. A total of 45 endemic montane species were recorded for the study region, with only ten being of conservation concern according to IUCN criteria.