A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA.
Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs 3.6 to 0.8 million years ago1 had climates resembling those forecasted under future warming2. Palaeoclimatic records show strong polar amplification with mean annual temperatures of 11-19 °C above contemporary values3,4. The biological communities inhabitin...
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2023
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Online Access: | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345115 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92544 |
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/345115 2024-02-04T09:57:57+01:00 A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. Kjær, Kurt H Winther Pedersen, Mikkel De Sanctis, Bianca De Cahsan, Binia Korneliussen, Thorfinn S Michelsen, Christian S Sand, Karina K Jelavić, Stanislav Ruter, Anthony H Schmidt, Astrid MA Kjeldsen, Kristian K Tesakov, Alexey S Snowball, Ian Gosse, John C Alsos, Inger G Wang, Yucheng Dockter, Christoph Rasmussen, Magnus Jørgensen, Morten E Skadhauge, Birgitte Prohaska, Ana Kristensen, Jeppe Å Bjerager, Morten Allentoft, Morten E Coissac, Eric PhyloNorway Consortium Rouillard, Alexandra Simakova, Alexandra Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio Bowler, Chris Macias-Fauria, Marc Vinner, Lasse Welch, John J Hidy, Alan J Sikora, Martin Collins, Matthew J Durbin, Richard Larsen, Nicolaj K Willerslev, Eske 2023-01-08T02:01:46Z application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345115 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92544 eng eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05453-y Nature https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345115 doi:10.17863/CAM.92544 Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ essn: 1476-4687 nlmid: 0410462 DNA Environmental Ecosystem Ecology Fossils Greenland Article 2023 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92544 2024-01-11T23:22:25Z Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs 3.6 to 0.8 million years ago1 had climates resembling those forecasted under future warming2. Palaeoclimatic records show strong polar amplification with mean annual temperatures of 11-19 °C above contemporary values3,4. The biological communities inhabiting the Arctic during this time remain poorly known because fossils are rare5. Here we report an ancient environmental DNA6 (eDNA) record describing the rich plant and animal assemblages of the Kap København Formation in North Greenland, dated to around two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal forest ecosystem with mixed vegetation of poplar, birch and thuja trees, as well as a variety of Arctic and boreal shrubs and herbs, many of which had not previously been detected at the site from macrofossil and pollen records. The DNA record confirms the presence of hare and mitochondrial DNA from animals including mastodons, reindeer, rodents and geese, all ancestral to their present-day and late Pleistocene relatives. The presence of marine species including horseshoe crab and green algae support a warmer climate than today. The reconstructed ecosystem has no modern analogue. The survival of such ancient eDNA probably relates to its binding to mineral surfaces. Our findings open new areas of genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities from two million years ago using ancient eDNA. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Kap København North Greenland Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository Arctic Greenland Kap ENVELOPE(23.567,23.567,65.533,65.533) Kap København ENVELOPE(-22.200,-22.200,82.400,82.400) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
DNA Environmental Ecosystem Ecology Fossils Greenland |
spellingShingle |
DNA Environmental Ecosystem Ecology Fossils Greenland Kjær, Kurt H Winther Pedersen, Mikkel De Sanctis, Bianca De Cahsan, Binia Korneliussen, Thorfinn S Michelsen, Christian S Sand, Karina K Jelavić, Stanislav Ruter, Anthony H Schmidt, Astrid MA Kjeldsen, Kristian K Tesakov, Alexey S Snowball, Ian Gosse, John C Alsos, Inger G Wang, Yucheng Dockter, Christoph Rasmussen, Magnus Jørgensen, Morten E Skadhauge, Birgitte Prohaska, Ana Kristensen, Jeppe Å Bjerager, Morten Allentoft, Morten E Coissac, Eric PhyloNorway Consortium Rouillard, Alexandra Simakova, Alexandra Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio Bowler, Chris Macias-Fauria, Marc Vinner, Lasse Welch, John J Hidy, Alan J Sikora, Martin Collins, Matthew J Durbin, Richard Larsen, Nicolaj K Willerslev, Eske A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
topic_facet |
DNA Environmental Ecosystem Ecology Fossils Greenland |
description |
Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene epochs 3.6 to 0.8 million years ago1 had climates resembling those forecasted under future warming2. Palaeoclimatic records show strong polar amplification with mean annual temperatures of 11-19 °C above contemporary values3,4. The biological communities inhabiting the Arctic during this time remain poorly known because fossils are rare5. Here we report an ancient environmental DNA6 (eDNA) record describing the rich plant and animal assemblages of the Kap København Formation in North Greenland, dated to around two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal forest ecosystem with mixed vegetation of poplar, birch and thuja trees, as well as a variety of Arctic and boreal shrubs and herbs, many of which had not previously been detected at the site from macrofossil and pollen records. The DNA record confirms the presence of hare and mitochondrial DNA from animals including mastodons, reindeer, rodents and geese, all ancestral to their present-day and late Pleistocene relatives. The presence of marine species including horseshoe crab and green algae support a warmer climate than today. The reconstructed ecosystem has no modern analogue. The survival of such ancient eDNA probably relates to its binding to mineral surfaces. Our findings open new areas of genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities from two million years ago using ancient eDNA. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kjær, Kurt H Winther Pedersen, Mikkel De Sanctis, Bianca De Cahsan, Binia Korneliussen, Thorfinn S Michelsen, Christian S Sand, Karina K Jelavić, Stanislav Ruter, Anthony H Schmidt, Astrid MA Kjeldsen, Kristian K Tesakov, Alexey S Snowball, Ian Gosse, John C Alsos, Inger G Wang, Yucheng Dockter, Christoph Rasmussen, Magnus Jørgensen, Morten E Skadhauge, Birgitte Prohaska, Ana Kristensen, Jeppe Å Bjerager, Morten Allentoft, Morten E Coissac, Eric PhyloNorway Consortium Rouillard, Alexandra Simakova, Alexandra Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio Bowler, Chris Macias-Fauria, Marc Vinner, Lasse Welch, John J Hidy, Alan J Sikora, Martin Collins, Matthew J Durbin, Richard Larsen, Nicolaj K Willerslev, Eske |
author_facet |
Kjær, Kurt H Winther Pedersen, Mikkel De Sanctis, Bianca De Cahsan, Binia Korneliussen, Thorfinn S Michelsen, Christian S Sand, Karina K Jelavić, Stanislav Ruter, Anthony H Schmidt, Astrid MA Kjeldsen, Kristian K Tesakov, Alexey S Snowball, Ian Gosse, John C Alsos, Inger G Wang, Yucheng Dockter, Christoph Rasmussen, Magnus Jørgensen, Morten E Skadhauge, Birgitte Prohaska, Ana Kristensen, Jeppe Å Bjerager, Morten Allentoft, Morten E Coissac, Eric PhyloNorway Consortium Rouillard, Alexandra Simakova, Alexandra Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio Bowler, Chris Macias-Fauria, Marc Vinner, Lasse Welch, John J Hidy, Alan J Sikora, Martin Collins, Matthew J Durbin, Richard Larsen, Nicolaj K Willerslev, Eske |
author_sort |
Kjær, Kurt H |
title |
A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
title_short |
A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
title_full |
A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
title_fullStr |
A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
title_full_unstemmed |
A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA. |
title_sort |
2-million-year-old ecosystem in greenland uncovered by environmental dna. |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345115 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92544 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(23.567,23.567,65.533,65.533) ENVELOPE(-22.200,-22.200,82.400,82.400) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Kap Kap København |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Kap Kap København |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Kap København North Greenland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Kap København North Greenland |
op_source |
essn: 1476-4687 nlmid: 0410462 |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345115 doi:10.17863/CAM.92544 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.92544 |
_version_ |
1789962287571795968 |