IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v506y2014i7486d10.1038_nature12921.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

Author

Listed:
  • Eske Willerslev

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • John Davison

    (Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia)

  • Mari Moora

    (Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia)

  • Martin Zobel

    (Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia)

  • Eric Coissac

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France)

  • Mary E. Edwards

    (Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK)

  • Eline D. Lorenzen

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
    University of California Berkeley, 1005 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, 94720 California, USA)

  • Mette Vestergård

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Galina Gussarova

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
    Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russia)

  • James Haile

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
    Ancient DNA Laboratory, Veterinary and Life Sciences School, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, 6150 Western Australia, Australia)

  • Joseph Craine

    (Kansas State University)

  • Ludovic Gielly

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France)

  • Sanne Boessenkool

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
    Present addresses: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, PO Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway (S.B.); Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, 14473 Potsdam, Germany (L.S.E.); SpyGen, Savoie Technolac, 17 allée du lac Saint André, BP 274, 73375 Le Bourget-du-Lac Cedex, France (E.B.).)

  • Laura S. Epp

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
    Present addresses: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, PO Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway (S.B.); Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, 14473 Potsdam, Germany (L.S.E.); SpyGen, Savoie Technolac, 17 allée du lac Saint André, BP 274, 73375 Le Bourget-du-Lac Cedex, France (E.B.).)

  • Peter B. Pearman

    (Landscape Dynamics Unit, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Rachid Cheddadi

    (Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, UMR 5554 Université Montpellier 2, Bat.22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France)

  • David Murray

    (University of Alaska Museum of the North)

  • Kari Anne Bråthen

    (UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway)

  • Nigel Yoccoz

    (UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway)

  • Heather Binney

    (Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK)

  • Corinne Cruaud

    (Genoscope, Institut de Genomique du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), 91000 Evry, France)

  • Patrick Wincker

    (Genoscope, Institut de Genomique du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), 91000 Evry, France)

  • Tomasz Goslar

    (Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Physics, Umultowska 85, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
    Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, Poznań Science and Technology Park, Rubież 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland)

  • Inger Greve Alsos

    (Tromsø University Museum, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway)

  • Eva Bellemain

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
    Present addresses: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, PO Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway (S.B.); Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A 43, 14473 Potsdam, Germany (L.S.E.); SpyGen, Savoie Technolac, 17 allée du lac Saint André, BP 274, 73375 Le Bourget-du-Lac Cedex, France (E.B.).)

  • Anne Krag Brysting

    (Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway)

  • Reidar Elven

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway)

  • Jørn Henrik Sønstebø

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway)

  • Julian Murton

    (Permafrost Laboratory, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK)

  • Andrei Sher

    (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia)

  • Morten Rasmussen

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Regin Rønn

    (Terrestrial Ecology, Universitetsparken 15, DK- 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark)

  • Tobias Mourier

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Alan Cooper

    (Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia)

  • Jeremy Austin

    (Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia)

  • Per Möller

    (Lund University Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden)

  • Duane Froese

    (University of Alberta, T6G 2E3 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

  • Grant Zazula

    (Government of Yukon, Yukon Palaeontology Program, PO Box 2703 L2A, Y1A 2C6 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada)

  • François Pompanon

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France)

  • Delphine Rioux

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France)

  • Vincent Niderkorn

    (INRA, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France)

  • Alexei Tikhonov

    (Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034 Saint-Petersburg, Russia)

  • Grigoriy Savvinov

    (Institute of Applied Ecology of the North of North-Eastern Federal University, Belinskogo Street 58, 677000 Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia)

  • Richard G. Roberts

    (Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522 New South Wales, Australia)

  • Ross D. E. MacPhee

    (American Museum of Natural History)

  • M. Thomas P. Gilbert

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Kurt H. Kjær

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Ludovic Orlando

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

  • Christian Brochmann

    (National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway)

  • Pierre Taberlet

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Eske Willerslev & John Davison & Mari Moora & Martin Zobel & Eric Coissac & Mary E. Edwards & Eline D. Lorenzen & Mette Vestergård & Galina Gussarova & James Haile & Joseph Craine & Ludovic Gielly & S, 2014. "Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet," Nature, Nature, vol. 506(7486), pages 47-51, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:506:y:2014:i:7486:d:10.1038_nature12921
    DOI: 10.1038/nature12921
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12921
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature12921?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sandra Garcés-Pastor & Eric Coissac & Sébastien Lavergne & Christoph Schwörer & Jean-Paul Theurillat & Peter D. Heintzman & Owen S. Wangensteen & Willy Tinner & Fabian Rey & Martina Heer & Astrid Rutz, 2022. "High resolution ancient sedimentary DNA shows that alpine plant diversity is associated with human land use and climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Shahnawaz Hassan & Zulaykha Khurshid & Sabreena & Bikram Singh Bali & Bashir Ah Ganai & R. Z. Sayyed & Peter Poczai & Muzafar Zaman, 2022. "A Critical Assessment of the Congruency between Environmental DNA and Palaeoecology for the Biodiversity Monitoring and Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Tyler J. Murchie & Alistair J. Monteath & Matthew E. Mahony & George S. Long & Scott Cocker & Tara Sadoway & Emil Karpinski & Grant Zazula & Ross D. E. MacPhee & Duane Froese & Hendrik N. Poinar, 2021. "Collapse of the mammoth-steppe in central Yukon as revealed by ancient environmental DNA," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:506:y:2014:i:7486:d:10.1038_nature12921. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.