Where did all the flowers go? The fate of temperate European flora during glacial periods

During the last full glacial much of northern Europe was covered with an extensive ice sheet, In comparison, southern Europe remained unglaciated but cold, with the mean January temperature estimated as low as -30 degrees C and July temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees C, It was in these southerly regions that many of the present temperate European trees, shrubs and herbs survived in refugia, Apart from the intrinsic interest as to where these populations were located, a knowledge of refugial areas and the plants located in them is starting to provide important ecological information on the effects of long-term isolation upon individual populations, rates and type of vegetation change with major climatic fluctuations, and the distribution of our present-day European flora.