Abstract Genomes record past climatic impact on species’ range shifts, admixture, refugial isolation, and adaptative evolution. However, these processes are poorly understood in perennial herbaceous species forming a dominant group of temperate flora. We present a demographic history of the perennial herb woodland strawberry ( Fragaria vesca L.) reconstructed from 200 genomes spanning most of its European range. Temporal population structure reveals a strong division into western and eastern genetic clusters along a longitudinal climatic gradient, with eastern core populations showing greater resilience during glaciations. Divergence patterns indicate that postglacial recolonization of western and eastern Europe occurred from distinct refugia in multiple waves. The current largest, admixed populations from the Mediterranean to northern Europe form a continuous chain maintained by east–west gene flow through Central Europe, with historical migration patterns indicating comparable connections during earlier interglacials. Our reconstruction of woodland strawberry’s climatic history with high temporal resolution reveals how the late Pleistocene core-periphery dynamics shaped its survival and genome evolution under climate change. The data points to populations that are essential for maintaining the long term genetic diversity of the species and opens new avenues to understand climatic adaptation of temperate flora.
Toivainen et al. (2026) studied this question.