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Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:45 authored by 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, Sanne Boessenkool, Laura S Epp, Peter B Pearman, Rachid Cheddadi, David Murray, Kari Anne Bråthen, Nigel Yoccoz, Heather Binney, Corinne Cruaud, Patrick Wincker, Tomasz Goslar, Inger Greve Alsos, Eva Bellemain, Anne Krag Brysting, Reidar Elven, Jørn Henrik Sønstebø, Julian MurtonJulian Murton, Andrei Sher, Morten Rasmussen, Regin Rønn, Tobias Mourier, Alan Cooper, Jeremy Austin, Per Möller, Duane Froese, Grant Zazula, François Pompanon, Delphine Rioux, Vincent Niderkorn, Alexei Tikhonov, Grigoriy Savvinov, Richard G Roberts, Ross D E MacPhee, M. Thomas P Gilbert, Kurt H Kjær, Ludovic Orlando, Christian Brochmann, Pierre TaberletAlthough 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.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
NatureISSN
0028-0836Publisher
Nature Publishing GroupExternal DOI
Issue
7486Volume
506Page range
47-51Department affiliated with
- Geography Publications
Notes
Published online 05 February 2014Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes