Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes
High Arctic environments are particularly sensitive to climate changes, but retrieval of paleoecological data is challenging due to low productivity and biomass. At the same time, Arctic soils and sediments have proven exceptional for long-term DNA preservation due to their constantly low temperatur...
Published in: | Quaternary Science Reviews |
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11604 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 |
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ftcurtin:oai:espace.curtin.edu.au:20.500.11937/11604 2023-06-11T04:09:00+02:00 Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes Epp, L. Gussarova, G. Boessenkool, S. Olsen, J. Haile, James Schrøder-Nielsen, A. Ludikova, A. Hassel, K. Stenøien, H. Funder, S. Willerslev, E. Kjær, K. Brochmann, C. 2015 restricted https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11604 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 unknown Pergamon http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11604 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 Greenland Copepods Sedimentary DNA Metabarcoding Diatoms Bryophytes Vegetation history Journal Article 2015 ftcurtin https://doi.org/20.500.11937/1160410.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 2023-05-30T19:25:56Z High Arctic environments are particularly sensitive to climate changes, but retrieval of paleoecological data is challenging due to low productivity and biomass. At the same time, Arctic soils and sediments have proven exceptional for long-term DNA preservation due to their constantly low temperatures. Lake sediments contain DNA paleorecords of the surrounding ecosystems and can be used to retrieve a variety of organismal groups from a single sample. In this study, we analyzed vascular plant, bryophyte, algal (in particular diatom) and copepod DNA retrieved from a sediment core spanning the Holocene, taken from Bliss Lake on the northernmost coast of Greenland. A previous multi-proxy study including microscopic diatom analyses showed that this lake experienced changes between marine and lacustrine conditions. We inferred the same environmental changes from algal DNA preserved in the sediment core. Our DNA record was stratigraphically coherent, with no indication of leaching between layers, and our cross-taxon comparisons were in accordance with previously inferred local ecosystem changes. Authentic ancient plant DNA was retrieved from nearly all layers, both from the marine and the limnic phases, and distinct temporal changes in plant presence were recovered. The plant DNA was mostly in agreement with expected vegetation history, but very early occurrences of vascular plants, including the woody Empetrum nigrum, document terrestrial vegetation very shortly after glacial retreat. Our study shows that multi-taxon metabarcoding of sedimentary ancient DNA from lake cores is a valuable tool both for terrestrial and aquatic paleoecology, even in low-productivity ecosystems such as the High Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Empetrum nigrum Greenland North Greenland Copepods Curtin University: espace Arctic Bliss Lake ENVELOPE(-113.718,-113.718,62.650,62.650) Greenland Quaternary Science Reviews 117 152 163 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Curtin University: espace |
op_collection_id |
ftcurtin |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Greenland Copepods Sedimentary DNA Metabarcoding Diatoms Bryophytes Vegetation history |
spellingShingle |
Greenland Copepods Sedimentary DNA Metabarcoding Diatoms Bryophytes Vegetation history Epp, L. Gussarova, G. Boessenkool, S. Olsen, J. Haile, James Schrøder-Nielsen, A. Ludikova, A. Hassel, K. Stenøien, H. Funder, S. Willerslev, E. Kjær, K. Brochmann, C. Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
topic_facet |
Greenland Copepods Sedimentary DNA Metabarcoding Diatoms Bryophytes Vegetation history |
description |
High Arctic environments are particularly sensitive to climate changes, but retrieval of paleoecological data is challenging due to low productivity and biomass. At the same time, Arctic soils and sediments have proven exceptional for long-term DNA preservation due to their constantly low temperatures. Lake sediments contain DNA paleorecords of the surrounding ecosystems and can be used to retrieve a variety of organismal groups from a single sample. In this study, we analyzed vascular plant, bryophyte, algal (in particular diatom) and copepod DNA retrieved from a sediment core spanning the Holocene, taken from Bliss Lake on the northernmost coast of Greenland. A previous multi-proxy study including microscopic diatom analyses showed that this lake experienced changes between marine and lacustrine conditions. We inferred the same environmental changes from algal DNA preserved in the sediment core. Our DNA record was stratigraphically coherent, with no indication of leaching between layers, and our cross-taxon comparisons were in accordance with previously inferred local ecosystem changes. Authentic ancient plant DNA was retrieved from nearly all layers, both from the marine and the limnic phases, and distinct temporal changes in plant presence were recovered. The plant DNA was mostly in agreement with expected vegetation history, but very early occurrences of vascular plants, including the woody Empetrum nigrum, document terrestrial vegetation very shortly after glacial retreat. Our study shows that multi-taxon metabarcoding of sedimentary ancient DNA from lake cores is a valuable tool both for terrestrial and aquatic paleoecology, even in low-productivity ecosystems such as the High Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Epp, L. Gussarova, G. Boessenkool, S. Olsen, J. Haile, James Schrøder-Nielsen, A. Ludikova, A. Hassel, K. Stenøien, H. Funder, S. Willerslev, E. Kjær, K. Brochmann, C. |
author_facet |
Epp, L. Gussarova, G. Boessenkool, S. Olsen, J. Haile, James Schrøder-Nielsen, A. Ludikova, A. Hassel, K. Stenøien, H. Funder, S. Willerslev, E. Kjær, K. Brochmann, C. |
author_sort |
Epp, L. |
title |
Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
title_short |
Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
title_full |
Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
title_fullStr |
Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lake sediment multi-taxon DNA from North Greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
title_sort |
lake sediment multi-taxon dna from north greenland records early post-glacial appearance of vascular plants and accurately tracks environmental changes |
publisher |
Pergamon |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11604 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-113.718,-113.718,62.650,62.650) |
geographic |
Arctic Bliss Lake Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bliss Lake Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Empetrum nigrum Greenland North Greenland Copepods |
genre_facet |
Arctic Empetrum nigrum Greenland North Greenland Copepods |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11604 doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11937/1160410.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.027 |
container_title |
Quaternary Science Reviews |
container_volume |
117 |
container_start_page |
152 |
op_container_end_page |
163 |
_version_ |
1768382694211715072 |