Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

E. Willerslev; J. Davison; M. Moora; M. Zobel; E. Coissac; M.E. Edwards; E.D. Lorenzen; M. Vestergård; G. Gussarova; J. Haile; J. Craine; L. Gielly; S. Boessenkool; L.S. Epp; P.B. Pearman; R. Cheddadi; D. Murray; K.A. Bråthen; N. Yoccoz; H. Binney; C. Cruaud; P. Wincker; T. Goslar; I.G. Alsos; E. Bellemain; A.K. Brysting; R. Elven; J.H. Sønstebø; J. Murton; A. Sher; M. Rasmussen; R. Rønn; T. Mourier; A. Cooper; J. Austin; P. Möller; D. Froese; G. Zazula; F. Pompanon; D. Rioux; V. Niderkorn; A. Tikhonov; G. Savvinov; R.G. Roberts; R.D.E. MacPhee; M.T.P. Gilbert; K.H. Kjær; L. Orlando; C. Brochmann; P. Taberlet

doi:10.1038/nature12921

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Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

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Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

E. Willerslev, J. Davison, M. Moora, M. Zobel, E. Coissac, M.E. Edwards, E.D. Lorenzen, M. Vestergård, G. Gussarova, J. Haile, …

Nature, Vol.506(7486), pp.47-51

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12921

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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.

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Title: Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet
Authors/Creators: E. Willerslev (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
J. Davison (Author/Creator) - University of Tartu
M. Moora (Author/Creator) - University of Tartu
M. Zobel (Author/Creator) - University of Tartu
E. Coissac (Author/Creator) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
M.E. Edwards (Author/Creator) - University of Southampton
E.D. Lorenzen (Author/Creator) - University of California, Berkeley
M. Vestergård (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
G. Gussarova (Author/Creator) - St Petersburg University
J. Haile (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
J. Craine (Author/Creator) - Kansas State University
L. Gielly (Author/Creator) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
S. Boessenkool (Author/Creator) - Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
L.S. Epp (Author/Creator) - Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
P.B. Pearman (Author/Creator)
R. Cheddadi (Author/Creator) - Université de Montpellier
D. Murray (Author/Creator) - University of Alaska Fairbanks
K.A. Bråthen (Author/Creator) - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
N. Yoccoz (Author/Creator) - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
H. Binney (Author/Creator) - University of Southampton
C. Cruaud (Author/Creator) - Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
P. Wincker (Author/Creator) - Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
T. Goslar (Author/Creator) - Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
I.G. Alsos (Author/Creator)
E. Bellemain (Author/Creator) - Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
A.K. Brysting (Author/Creator) - University of Oslo
R. Elven (Author/Creator) - American Museum of Natural History
J.H. Sønstebø (Author/Creator) - American Museum of Natural History
J. Murton (Author/Creator) - University of Sussex
A. Sher (Author/Creator) - Russian Academy of Sciences
M. Rasmussen (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
R. Rønn (Author/Creator)
T. Mourier (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
A. Cooper (Author/Creator) - The University of Adelaide
J. Austin (Author/Creator) - The University of Adelaide
P. Möller (Author/Creator) - Lund University
D. Froese (Author/Creator) - University of Alberta
G. Zazula (Author/Creator)
F. Pompanon (Author/Creator) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
D. Rioux (Author/Creator) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
V. Niderkorn (Author/Creator) - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
A. Tikhonov (Author/Creator) - Russian Academy of Sciences
G. Savvinov (Author/Creator) - North-Eastern Federal University
R.G. Roberts (Author/Creator) - University of Wollongong
R.D.E. MacPhee (Author/Creator) - American Museum of Natural History
M.T.P. Gilbert (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
K.H. Kjær (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
L. Orlando (Author/Creator) - University of Copenhagen
C. Brochmann (Author/Creator) - American Museum of Natural History
P. Taberlet (Author/Creator) - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Publication Details: Nature, Vol.506(7486), pp.47-51
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Identifiers: 991005543069407891
Copyright: © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Veterinary and Life Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 8 Earth Sciences; 8.93 Archaeology; 8.93.8 Holocene
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology