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Humans rather than climate the primary cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in Australia

Author

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  • Sander van der Kaars

    (School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University
    Cluster Earth and Climate, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit)

  • Gifford H. Miller

    (INSTAAR and Geological Sciences, University of Colorado
    Curtin University)

  • Chris S. M. Turney

    (Climate Change Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
    Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales)

  • Ellyn J. Cook

    (School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University)

  • Dirk Nürnberg

    (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)

  • Joachim Schönfeld

    (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)

  • A. Peter Kershaw

    (School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University)

  • Scott J. Lehman

    (INSTAAR and Geological Sciences, University of Colorado)

Abstract

Environmental histories that span the last full glacial cycle and are representative of regional change in Australia are scarce, hampering assessment of environmental change preceding and concurrent with human dispersal on the continent ca. 47,000 years ago. Here we present a continuous 150,000-year record offshore south-western Australia and identify the timing of two critical late Pleistocene events: wide-scale ecosystem change and regional megafaunal population collapse. We establish that substantial changes in vegetation and fire regime occurred ∼70,000 years ago under a climate much drier than today. We record high levels of the dung fungus Sporormiella, a proxy for herbivore biomass, from 150,000 to 45,000 years ago, then a marked decline indicating megafaunal population collapse, from 45,000 to 43,100 years ago, placing the extinctions within 4,000 years of human dispersal across Australia. These findings rule out climate change, and implicate humans, as the primary extinction cause.

Suggested Citation

  • Sander van der Kaars & Gifford H. Miller & Chris S. M. Turney & Ellyn J. Cook & Dirk Nürnberg & Joachim Schönfeld & A. Peter Kershaw & Scott J. Lehman, 2017. "Humans rather than climate the primary cause of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in Australia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14142
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14142
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    Cited by:

    1. Tisdell, Clement, 2018. "The sustainability and desirability of the traditional economies of Australian Aborigines: Controversial issues," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-8.
    2. Daniel A. Lauer & A. Michelle Lawing & Rachel A. Short & Fredrick K. Manthi & Johannes Müller & Jason J. Head & Jenny L. McGuire, 2023. "Disruption of trait-environment relationships in African megafauna occurred in the middle Pleistocene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Tristan Salles & Renaud Joannes-Boyau & Ian Moffat & Laurent Husson & Manon Lorcery, 2024. "Physiography, foraging mobility, and the first peopling of Sahul," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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