The extinction of native European bamboos: A fossil and climate perspective

This study addresses the biogeographical paradox of Europe having no native woody bamboos, despite a fossil record demonstrating their presence on the continent from the Oligocene to the Middle Pleistocene. To investigate the causes of their extinction, we employed ecological niche models (ENMs) to project the climatic suitability in Europe for 16 species from the fossil genera Bambusa (tropical) and Sasa (temperate) under both current and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climatic conditions. Our results reveal that under the current climate, several species have climatically suitable areas in Europe, particularly in the genus Sasa . However, projections for the LGM show a contradictory pattern: While five Bambusa species with no current suitability found extensive suitable conditions during the colder glacial period, three Sasa species lost their suitability entirely. This palaeoecological dissonance indicates that the limiting factors are not simply low temperatures, but a complex spatial reorganization of climatic variables between glacial and interglacial periods. The combined evidence suggests that woody bamboos, likely components of the boreotropical flora, went regionally extinct in Europe during the Early–Middle Pleistocene Transition (~1.25–0.75 Ma), a period of intensifying glacial cycles and progressive cooling. Their current absence is thus a historical relic of Quaternary extinction events, not a contemporary climatic limitation, which explains why many species can be successfully cultivated in modern Europe. • Fossil record confirms European bamboos went extinct ~800,000 ya. • Ecological niche modeling reveals current climate suitability in Europe. • Glacial climates were suitable for some bamboos now absent from Europe. • Pleistocene cooling, not current climate, drove European bamboo extinction.