Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival
Radical restructuring of the terrestrial, large mammal fauna living in arctic Alaska occurred between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Steppe bison, horse, and woolly mammoth became extinct, moose and humans invaded, while muskox and caribou persisted. The ice age mega fau...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:usgsstaffpub-1931 2023-11-12T04:11:50+01:00 Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival Mann, Daniel H. Groves, Pamela Kunz, Michael L. Reanier, Richard E. Gaglioti, Benjamin V. 2013-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/921 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsstaffpub/article/1931/viewcontent/Mann_QSR_2013_Ice_age_megafauna_in_Arctic_Alaska.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/921 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsstaffpub/article/1931/viewcontent/Mann_QSR_2013_Ice_age_megafauna_in_Arctic_Alaska.pdf USGS Staff -- Published Research Arctic Extinction Megafauna Climate change Woolly mammoth Steppe bison Horse Pleistocene Ice age Peat Alaska Bones Earth Sciences Geology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Other Earth Sciences Other Environmental Sciences text 2013 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T11:25:29Z Radical restructuring of the terrestrial, large mammal fauna living in arctic Alaska occurred between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Steppe bison, horse, and woolly mammoth became extinct, moose and humans invaded, while muskox and caribou persisted. The ice age mega fauna was more diverse in species and possibly contained 6x more individual animals than live in the region today. Mega faunal biomass during the last ice age may have been 30x greater than present. Horse was the dominant species in terms of number of individuals. Lions, short-faced bears, wolves, and possibly grizzly bears comprised the predator/scavenger guild. The youngest mammoth so far discovered lived ca 13,800 years ago, while horses and bison persisted on the North Slope until at least 12,500 years ago during the Younger Dry as cold interval. The first people arrived on the North Slope ca 13,500 years ago. Bone-isotope measurements and foot-loading characteristics suggest mega faunal niches were segregated along a moisture gradient, with the surviving species (muskox and caribou) utilizing the warmer and moister portions of the vegetation mosaic. As the ice age ended, the moisture gradient shifted and eliminated habitats utilized by the dry land, grazing species (bison, horse, mammoth). The proximate cause for this change was regional paludification, the spread of organic soil horizons and peat. End-Pleistocene extinctions in arctic Alaska represent local, not global extinctions since the mega faunal species lost there persisted to later times elsewhere. Hunting seems unlikely as the cause of these extinctions, but it cannot be ruled out as the final blow to mega faunal populations that were already functionally extinct by the time humans arrived in the region. Text Arctic Climate change Moose muskox north slope Alaska University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Arctic |
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Open Polar |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnebraskali |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Arctic Extinction Megafauna Climate change Woolly mammoth Steppe bison Horse Pleistocene Ice age Peat Alaska Bones Earth Sciences Geology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Other Earth Sciences Other Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Extinction Megafauna Climate change Woolly mammoth Steppe bison Horse Pleistocene Ice age Peat Alaska Bones Earth Sciences Geology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Other Earth Sciences Other Environmental Sciences Mann, Daniel H. Groves, Pamela Kunz, Michael L. Reanier, Richard E. Gaglioti, Benjamin V. Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
topic_facet |
Arctic Extinction Megafauna Climate change Woolly mammoth Steppe bison Horse Pleistocene Ice age Peat Alaska Bones Earth Sciences Geology Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Other Earth Sciences Other Environmental Sciences |
description |
Radical restructuring of the terrestrial, large mammal fauna living in arctic Alaska occurred between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Steppe bison, horse, and woolly mammoth became extinct, moose and humans invaded, while muskox and caribou persisted. The ice age mega fauna was more diverse in species and possibly contained 6x more individual animals than live in the region today. Mega faunal biomass during the last ice age may have been 30x greater than present. Horse was the dominant species in terms of number of individuals. Lions, short-faced bears, wolves, and possibly grizzly bears comprised the predator/scavenger guild. The youngest mammoth so far discovered lived ca 13,800 years ago, while horses and bison persisted on the North Slope until at least 12,500 years ago during the Younger Dry as cold interval. The first people arrived on the North Slope ca 13,500 years ago. Bone-isotope measurements and foot-loading characteristics suggest mega faunal niches were segregated along a moisture gradient, with the surviving species (muskox and caribou) utilizing the warmer and moister portions of the vegetation mosaic. As the ice age ended, the moisture gradient shifted and eliminated habitats utilized by the dry land, grazing species (bison, horse, mammoth). The proximate cause for this change was regional paludification, the spread of organic soil horizons and peat. End-Pleistocene extinctions in arctic Alaska represent local, not global extinctions since the mega faunal species lost there persisted to later times elsewhere. Hunting seems unlikely as the cause of these extinctions, but it cannot be ruled out as the final blow to mega faunal populations that were already functionally extinct by the time humans arrived in the region. |
format |
Text |
author |
Mann, Daniel H. Groves, Pamela Kunz, Michael L. Reanier, Richard E. Gaglioti, Benjamin V. |
author_facet |
Mann, Daniel H. Groves, Pamela Kunz, Michael L. Reanier, Richard E. Gaglioti, Benjamin V. |
author_sort |
Mann, Daniel H. |
title |
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
title_short |
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
title_full |
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
title_fullStr |
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice-age megafauna in Arctic Alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
title_sort |
ice-age megafauna in arctic alaska: extinction, invasion, survival |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/921 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsstaffpub/article/1931/viewcontent/Mann_QSR_2013_Ice_age_megafauna_in_Arctic_Alaska.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Moose muskox north slope Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Moose muskox north slope Alaska |
op_source |
USGS Staff -- Published Research |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/921 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsstaffpub/article/1931/viewcontent/Mann_QSR_2013_Ice_age_megafauna_in_Arctic_Alaska.pdf |
_version_ |
1782330723823255552 |