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...
Published in: | Nature |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/ http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/1/nature12921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 |
id |
ftunivsussex:oai:sro.sussex.ac.uk:52427 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivsussex:oai:sro.sussex.ac.uk:52427 2023-07-30T04:00:07+02:00 Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet Willerslev, Eske Davison, John Moora, Mari Zobel, Martin Coissac, Eric Edwards, Mary E Lorenzen, Eline D Vestergård, Mette Gussarova, Galina Haile, James Craine, Joseph Gielly, Ludovic Boessenkool, Sanne Epp, Laura S Pearman, Peter B Cheddadi, Rachid Murray, David Bråthen, Kari Anne Yoccoz, Nigel Binney, Heather Cruaud, Corinne Wincker, Patrick Goslar, Tomasz Alsos, Inger Greve Bellemain, Eva Brysting, Anne Krag Elven, Reidar Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik Murton, Julian Sher, Andrei Rasmussen, Morten Rønn, Regin Mourier, Tobias Cooper, Alan Austin, Jeremy Möller, Per Froese, Duane Zazula, Grant Pompanon, François Rioux, Delphine Niderkorn, Vincent Tikhonov, Alexei Savvinov, Grigoriy Roberts, Richard G MacPhee, Ross D E Gilbert, M. Thomas P Kjær, Kurt H Orlando, Ludovic Brochmann, Christian Taberlet, Pierre 2014-02-06 application/pdf http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/ http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/1/nature12921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/1/nature12921.pdf Willerslev, Eske, Davison, John, Moora, Mari, Zobel, Martin, Coissac, Eric, Edwards, Mary E, Lorenzen, Eline D, Vestergård, Mette, Gussarova, Galina, Haile, James, Craine, Joseph, Gielly, Ludovic, Boessenkool, Sanne, Epp, Laura S, Pearman, Peter B, Cheddadi, Rachid, Murray, David, Bråthen, Kari Anne, Yoccoz, Nigel, Binney, Heather, Cruaud, Corinne, Wincker, Patrick, Goslar, Tomasz, Alsos, Inger Greve, Bellemain, Eva, Brysting, Anne Krag, Elven, Reidar, Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik, Murton, Julian, Sher, Andrei, Rasmussen, Morten, Rønn, Regin, Mourier, Tobias, Cooper, Alan, Austin, Jeremy, Möller, Per, Froese, Duane, Zazula, Grant, Pompanon, François, Rioux, Delphine, Niderkorn, Vincent, Tikhonov, Alexei, Savvinov, Grigoriy, Roberts, Richard G, MacPhee, Ross D E, Gilbert, M. Thomas P, Kjær, Kurt H, Orlando, Ludovic, Brochmann, Christian and Taberlet, Pierre (2014) Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet. Nature, 506 (7486). pp. 47-51. ISSN 0028-0836 GB Physical geography Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftunivsussex https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 2023-07-11T20:28:48Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Tundra University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online Arctic Nature 506 7486 47 51 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftunivsussex |
language |
English |
topic |
GB Physical geography |
spellingShingle |
GB Physical geography Willerslev, Eske Davison, John Moora, Mari Zobel, Martin Coissac, Eric Edwards, Mary E Lorenzen, Eline D Vestergård, Mette Gussarova, Galina Haile, James Craine, Joseph Gielly, Ludovic Boessenkool, Sanne Epp, Laura S Pearman, Peter B Cheddadi, Rachid Murray, David Bråthen, Kari Anne Yoccoz, Nigel Binney, Heather Cruaud, Corinne Wincker, Patrick Goslar, Tomasz Alsos, Inger Greve Bellemain, Eva Brysting, Anne Krag Elven, Reidar Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik Murton, Julian Sher, Andrei Rasmussen, Morten Rønn, Regin Mourier, Tobias Cooper, Alan Austin, Jeremy Möller, Per Froese, Duane Zazula, Grant Pompanon, François Rioux, Delphine Niderkorn, Vincent Tikhonov, Alexei Savvinov, Grigoriy Roberts, Richard G MacPhee, Ross D E Gilbert, M. Thomas P Kjær, Kurt H Orlando, Ludovic Brochmann, Christian Taberlet, Pierre Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet |
topic_facet |
GB Physical geography |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Willerslev, Eske Davison, John Moora, Mari Zobel, Martin Coissac, Eric Edwards, Mary E Lorenzen, Eline D Vestergård, Mette Gussarova, Galina Haile, James Craine, Joseph Gielly, Ludovic Boessenkool, Sanne Epp, Laura S Pearman, Peter B Cheddadi, Rachid Murray, David Bråthen, Kari Anne Yoccoz, Nigel Binney, Heather Cruaud, Corinne Wincker, Patrick Goslar, Tomasz Alsos, Inger Greve Bellemain, Eva Brysting, Anne Krag Elven, Reidar Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik Murton, Julian Sher, Andrei Rasmussen, Morten Rønn, Regin Mourier, Tobias Cooper, Alan Austin, Jeremy Möller, Per Froese, Duane Zazula, Grant Pompanon, François Rioux, Delphine Niderkorn, Vincent Tikhonov, Alexei Savvinov, Grigoriy Roberts, Richard G MacPhee, Ross D E Gilbert, M. Thomas P Kjær, Kurt H Orlando, Ludovic Brochmann, Christian Taberlet, Pierre |
author_facet |
Willerslev, Eske Davison, John Moora, Mari Zobel, Martin Coissac, Eric Edwards, Mary E Lorenzen, Eline D Vestergård, Mette Gussarova, Galina Haile, James Craine, Joseph Gielly, Ludovic Boessenkool, Sanne Epp, Laura S Pearman, Peter B Cheddadi, Rachid Murray, David Bråthen, Kari Anne Yoccoz, Nigel Binney, Heather Cruaud, Corinne Wincker, Patrick Goslar, Tomasz Alsos, Inger Greve Bellemain, Eva Brysting, Anne Krag Elven, Reidar Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik Murton, Julian Sher, Andrei Rasmussen, Morten Rønn, Regin Mourier, Tobias Cooper, Alan Austin, Jeremy Möller, Per Froese, Duane Zazula, Grant Pompanon, François Rioux, Delphine Niderkorn, Vincent Tikhonov, Alexei Savvinov, Grigoriy Roberts, Richard G MacPhee, Ross D E Gilbert, M. Thomas P Kjær, Kurt H Orlando, Ludovic Brochmann, Christian Taberlet, Pierre |
author_sort |
Willerslev, Eske |
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://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/ http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/1/nature12921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Tundra |
op_relation |
http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/52427/1/nature12921.pdf Willerslev, Eske, Davison, John, Moora, Mari, Zobel, Martin, Coissac, Eric, Edwards, Mary E, Lorenzen, Eline D, Vestergård, Mette, Gussarova, Galina, Haile, James, Craine, Joseph, Gielly, Ludovic, Boessenkool, Sanne, Epp, Laura S, Pearman, Peter B, Cheddadi, Rachid, Murray, David, Bråthen, Kari Anne, Yoccoz, Nigel, Binney, Heather, Cruaud, Corinne, Wincker, Patrick, Goslar, Tomasz, Alsos, Inger Greve, Bellemain, Eva, Brysting, Anne Krag, Elven, Reidar, Sønstebø, Jørn Henrik, Murton, Julian, Sher, Andrei, Rasmussen, Morten, Rønn, Regin, Mourier, Tobias, Cooper, Alan, Austin, Jeremy, Möller, Per, Froese, Duane, Zazula, Grant, Pompanon, François, Rioux, Delphine, Niderkorn, Vincent, Tikhonov, Alexei, Savvinov, Grigoriy, Roberts, Richard G, MacPhee, Ross D E, Gilbert, M. Thomas P, Kjær, Kurt H, Orlando, Ludovic, Brochmann, Christian and Taberlet, Pierre (2014) Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet. Nature, 506 (7486). pp. 47-51. ISSN 0028-0836 |
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 |
_version_ |
1772810717293969408 |