Ancient DNA and osteological analyses of a unique paleo-archive reveal Early Holocene faunal expansion into the Scandinavian Arctic

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Boilard, Aurélie, Walker, Samuel J., Lødøen, Trond Klungseth, Henriksen, Mona, Takken Beijersbergen, Liselotte M., Star, Bastiaan, Robu, Marius, Tøssebro, Christine, Albrektsen, Cornelia Marie, Soleng, Yvonne, Aksnes, Sverre, Jørgensen, Roger, Hufthammer, Anne Karin, van Kolfschoten, Thijs, Lauritzen, Stein-Erik, Boessenkool, Sanne
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2024
• Subjects: Arctic; Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adk3032; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adk3032

Paleo-archives are essential for our understanding of species responses to climate warming, yet such archives are extremely rare in the Arctic. Here, we combine morphological analyses and bulk-bone metabarcoding to investigate a unique chronology of bone deposits sealed in the high-latitude Storsteinhola cave system (68°50′ N 16°22′ E) in Norway. This deposit dates to a period of climate warming from the end of the Late Glacial [~13 thousand calibrated years before the present (ka cal B.P.)] to the Holocene thermal maximum (~5.6 ka cal B.P.). Paleogenetic analyses allow us to exploit the 1000s of morphologically unidentifiable bone fragments resulting in a high-resolution sequence with 40 different taxa, including species not previously found here. Our record reveals borealization in both the marine and terrestrial environments above the Arctic Circle as a naturally recurring phenomenon in past periods of warming, providing fundamental insights into the ecosystem-wide responses that are ongoing today.