The dynamic environmental history of the Arctic makes it a natural experiment for the effects of climate change. Dramatic fluctuations in climate during the Pleistocene led to large ice sheets covering large expanses of the Arctic during glacial maxima, while ice-free areas such as the Beringian refugium persisted at high latitudes over multiple glacial cycles. Beringia roughly extended from the Kolyma River in Far East Russia through Alaska to the Mackenzie River in northwestern Canada. During glacial maxima, sea levels were lower and the Bering Land Bridge of central Beringia connected Eurasia and North America. I use a statistical phylogeographic approach, incorporating theory and new analytical techniques from the fields of phylogenetics [...]
