Biological Interaction as a Possible Ultimate Driver in the Local Extinction of Cedrus atlantica in the Iberian Peninsula González Hernández, Antonio Alba Sánchez, María Francisca Peñas De Giles, Julio Black pine Cedar Competition Ecological niche Paleoecology This research study was funded by (i) the Spanish government, State R & D Program Oriented to the Challenges of the Society, MED-REFUGIA Research Project (RTI2018-101714-B-I00); (ii) Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation, OROMEDREFUGIA Research Project (P18-RT-4963); (iii) ERDF Operational Programme in Andalusia (EU regional programme), RELIC-FLORA 2 Research Project (B-RNM-404-UGR18); and (iv) State Program for the Promotion of Scientific Research and Excellence Technique, PALEOPINSAPO Research Project (CSO2017-83576-P). The APC was funded by (i) the Spanish government, State R & D Program Oriented to the Challenges of the Society, MED-REFUGIA Research Project (RTI2018-101714-B-I00); and (ii) Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation, OROMEDREFUGIA Research Project (P18-RT-4963). The presence of Cedrus atlantica on the European continent, including, especially, the determination of the time of its disappearance from the Iberian Peninsula, is one of the most controversial issues in recent decades regarding the successive extinction of conifers in the Western Mediterranean. This work propounds the possibility that C. atlantica and Pinus nigra could have co-habited in the past, mutually excluding each other in the areas with suitable conditions for both species, where, ultimately, the one that was the most competitive would have remained. The niche overlap in the two-dimensional ecological space was analyzed. In addition, the potential distribution of both species in theWestern Mediterranean today and two past periods (Last Glacial Maximum and Mid-Holocene) was modeled to identify their common geographic area of distribution. The species showed very well differentiated niches and a distribution of their habitats virtually segregated by continents since the Mid-Holocene (P. nigra in Europe and C. atlantica in Africa), which responds to differences in climatic affinities. However, the contact of the bordering areas of their distributions in the Baetic mountain range suggests that C. atlantica could have maintained its presence in the Iberian Peninsula until recent times. P. nigra would have displace it in later stages due to its greater prevalence on the continent, so it would have had greater opportunities to occupy the available space. 2022-03-21T08:26:42Z 2022-03-21T08:26:42Z 2022-02-15 journal article González-Hernández, A... [et al.]. Biological Interaction as a Possible Ultimate Driver in the Local Extinction of Cedrus atlantica in the Iberian Peninsula. Diversity 2022, 14, 136. [https://doi.org/10.3390/d14020136] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/73587 10.3390/d14020136 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España MDPI