European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe.
According to the refugee species concept, increasing replacement of open steppe by forest cover after the last glacial period and human pressure had together forced European bison (Bison bonasus)--the largest extant terrestrial mammal of Europe--into forests as a refuge habitat. The consequent decre...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7de332e391f04266a68c658171bf579f 2023-05-15T13:13:36+02:00 European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. Hervé Bocherens Emilia Hofman-Kamińska Dorothée G Drucker Ulrich Schmölcke Rafał Kowalczyk 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 https://doaj.org/article/7de332e391f04266a68c658171bf579f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4324907?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 https://doaj.org/article/7de332e391f04266a68c658171bf579f PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 2, p e0115090 (2015) Medicine R Science Q article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 2022-12-30T23:58:22Z According to the refugee species concept, increasing replacement of open steppe by forest cover after the last glacial period and human pressure had together forced European bison (Bison bonasus)--the largest extant terrestrial mammal of Europe--into forests as a refuge habitat. The consequent decreased fitness and population density led to the gradual extinction of the species. Understanding the pre-refugee ecology of the species may help its conservation management and ensure its long time survival. In view of this, we investigated the abundance of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) in radiocarbon dated skeletal remains of European bison and other large herbivores--aurochs (Bos primigenius), moose (Alces alces), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)--from the Early Holocene of northern Europe to reconstruct their dietary habits and pattern of habitat use in conditions of low human influence. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in collagen of the ungulate species in northern central Europe during the Early Holocene showed significant differences in the habitat use and the diet of these herbivores. The values of the δ13C and δ15N isotopes reflected the use of open habitats by bison, with their diet intermediate between that of aurochs (grazer) and of moose (browser). Our results show that, despite the partial overlap in carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of some species, Early Holocene large ungulates avoided competition by selection of different habitats or different food sources within similar environments. Although Early Holocene bison and Late Pleistocene steppe bison utilized open habitats, their diets were significantly different, as reflected by their δ15N values. Additional isotopic analyses show that modern populations of European bison utilize much more forested habitats than Early Holocene bison, which supports the refugee status of the species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Rangifer tarandus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 10 2 e0115090 |
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Medicine R Science Q Hervé Bocherens Emilia Hofman-Kamińska Dorothée G Drucker Ulrich Schmölcke Rafał Kowalczyk European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
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Medicine R Science Q |
description |
According to the refugee species concept, increasing replacement of open steppe by forest cover after the last glacial period and human pressure had together forced European bison (Bison bonasus)--the largest extant terrestrial mammal of Europe--into forests as a refuge habitat. The consequent decreased fitness and population density led to the gradual extinction of the species. Understanding the pre-refugee ecology of the species may help its conservation management and ensure its long time survival. In view of this, we investigated the abundance of stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) in radiocarbon dated skeletal remains of European bison and other large herbivores--aurochs (Bos primigenius), moose (Alces alces), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)--from the Early Holocene of northern Europe to reconstruct their dietary habits and pattern of habitat use in conditions of low human influence. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in collagen of the ungulate species in northern central Europe during the Early Holocene showed significant differences in the habitat use and the diet of these herbivores. The values of the δ13C and δ15N isotopes reflected the use of open habitats by bison, with their diet intermediate between that of aurochs (grazer) and of moose (browser). Our results show that, despite the partial overlap in carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of some species, Early Holocene large ungulates avoided competition by selection of different habitats or different food sources within similar environments. Although Early Holocene bison and Late Pleistocene steppe bison utilized open habitats, their diets were significantly different, as reflected by their δ15N values. Additional isotopic analyses show that modern populations of European bison utilize much more forested habitats than Early Holocene bison, which supports the refugee status of the species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hervé Bocherens Emilia Hofman-Kamińska Dorothée G Drucker Ulrich Schmölcke Rafał Kowalczyk |
author_facet |
Hervé Bocherens Emilia Hofman-Kamińska Dorothée G Drucker Ulrich Schmölcke Rafał Kowalczyk |
author_sort |
Hervé Bocherens |
title |
European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
title_short |
European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
title_full |
European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
title_fullStr |
European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
title_full_unstemmed |
European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. |
title_sort |
european bison as a refugee species? evidence from isotopic data on early holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern europe. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 https://doaj.org/article/7de332e391f04266a68c658171bf579f |
genre |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 2, p e0115090 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4324907?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 https://doaj.org/article/7de332e391f04266a68c658171bf579f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115090 |
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PLOS ONE |
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10 |
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2 |
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e0115090 |
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1766259374403092480 |