Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet
Although it is generally agreed that the Arctic flora is among the youngest and least diverse on Earth, the processes that shaped it are poorly understood. Here we present 50 thousand years (kyr) of Arctic vegetation history, derived from the first large-scale ancient DNA metabarcoding study of circ...
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ftunivadelaidedl:oai:digital.library.adelaide.edu.au:2440/96438 2023-12-24T10:13:00+01:00 Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet Willerslev, E. Davison, J. Moora, M. Zobel, M. Coissac, E. Edwards, M. Lorenzen, E. Vestergård, M. Gussarova, G. Haile, J. Craine, J. Gielly, L. Boessenkool, S. Epp, L. Pearman, P. Cheddadi, R. Murray, D. Bråthen, K. Yoccoz, N. Binney, H. 2014 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/96438 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0558446 Nature, 2014; 506(7486):47-51 0028-0836 1476-4687 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/96438 doi:10.1038/nature12921 Cooper, A. [0000-0002-7738-7851] Austin, J. [0000-0003-4244-2942] © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 Palaeoecology Journal article 2014 ftunivadelaidedl https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 2023-11-27T23:22:23Z Although it is generally agreed that the Arctic flora is among the youngest and least diverse on Earth, the processes that shaped it are poorly understood. Here we present 50 thousand years (kyr) of Arctic vegetation history, derived from the first large-scale ancient DNA metabarcoding study of circumpolar plant diversity. For this interval we also explore nematode diversity as a proxy for modelling vegetation cover and soil quality, and diets of herbivorous megafaunal mammals, many of which became extinct around 10 kyr bp (before present). For much of the period investigated, Arctic vegetation consisted of dry steppe-tundra dominated by forbs (non-graminoid herbaceous vascular plants). During the Last Glacial Maximum (25-15 kyr bp), diversity declined markedly, although forbs remained dominant. Much changed after 10 kyr bp, with the appearance of moist tundra dominated by woody plants and graminoids. Our analyses indicate that both graminoids and forbs would have featured in megafaunal diets. As such, our findings question the predominance of a Late Quaternary graminoid-dominated Arctic mammoth steppe. Eske Willerslev . Alan Cooper, Jeremy Austin . et al. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra The University of Adelaide: Digital Library Arctic Austin Jeremy ENVELOPE(-68.838,-68.838,-69.402,-69.402) Nature 506 7486 47 51 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Adelaide: Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivadelaidedl |
language |
English |
topic |
Palaeoecology |
spellingShingle |
Palaeoecology Willerslev, E. Davison, J. Moora, M. Zobel, M. Coissac, E. Edwards, M. Lorenzen, E. Vestergård, M. Gussarova, G. Haile, J. Craine, J. Gielly, L. Boessenkool, S. Epp, L. Pearman, P. Cheddadi, R. Murray, D. Bråthen, K. Yoccoz, N. Binney, H. Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
topic_facet |
Palaeoecology |
description |
Although it is generally agreed that the Arctic flora is among the youngest and least diverse on Earth, the processes that shaped it are poorly understood. Here we present 50 thousand years (kyr) of Arctic vegetation history, derived from the first large-scale ancient DNA metabarcoding study of circumpolar plant diversity. For this interval we also explore nematode diversity as a proxy for modelling vegetation cover and soil quality, and diets of herbivorous megafaunal mammals, many of which became extinct around 10 kyr bp (before present). For much of the period investigated, Arctic vegetation consisted of dry steppe-tundra dominated by forbs (non-graminoid herbaceous vascular plants). During the Last Glacial Maximum (25-15 kyr bp), diversity declined markedly, although forbs remained dominant. Much changed after 10 kyr bp, with the appearance of moist tundra dominated by woody plants and graminoids. Our analyses indicate that both graminoids and forbs would have featured in megafaunal diets. As such, our findings question the predominance of a Late Quaternary graminoid-dominated Arctic mammoth steppe. Eske Willerslev . Alan Cooper, Jeremy Austin . et al. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Willerslev, E. Davison, J. Moora, M. Zobel, M. Coissac, E. Edwards, M. Lorenzen, E. Vestergård, M. Gussarova, G. Haile, J. Craine, J. Gielly, L. Boessenkool, S. Epp, L. Pearman, P. Cheddadi, R. Murray, D. Bråthen, K. Yoccoz, N. Binney, H. |
author_facet |
Willerslev, E. Davison, J. Moora, M. Zobel, M. Coissac, E. Edwards, M. Lorenzen, E. Vestergård, M. Gussarova, G. Haile, J. Craine, J. Gielly, L. Boessenkool, S. Epp, L. Pearman, P. Cheddadi, R. Murray, D. Bråthen, K. Yoccoz, N. Binney, H. |
author_sort |
Willerslev, E. |
title |
Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
title_short |
Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
title_full |
Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
title_fullStr |
Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
title_sort |
fifty thousand years of arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2440/96438 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.838,-68.838,-69.402,-69.402) |
geographic |
Arctic Austin Jeremy |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Austin Jeremy |
genre |
Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP0558446 Nature, 2014; 506(7486):47-51 0028-0836 1476-4687 http://hdl.handle.net/2440/96438 doi:10.1038/nature12921 Cooper, A. [0000-0002-7738-7851] Austin, J. [0000-0003-4244-2942] |
op_rights |
© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
506 |
container_issue |
7486 |
container_start_page |
47 |
op_container_end_page |
51 |
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1786178505815359488 |