Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

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 Murton; Andrei Sher; Morten Rasmussen; Regin Ronn; Tobias Mourier; Alan Cooper; Jeremy Austin; Per Moller; Duane Froese; Grant Zazula; Francois 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 Taberlet

doi:10.1038/nature12921

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Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

Eske Willerslev, John Davison, Mari Moora, Martin Zobel, Eric Coissac, Mary E. Edwards, Eline D. Lorenzen, Mette Vestergård, Galina Gussarova, James Haile, …

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

06/02/2014

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

PMID: 24499916

Abstract

Life Sciences

Vegetal Biology

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
Creators - without role: Eske Willerslev - Natural History Museum Aarhus
John Davison - University of Tartu
Mari Moora - University of Tartu
Martin Zobel - University of Tartu
Eric Coissac - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Mary E. Edwards - University of Southampton
Eline D. Lorenzen - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Mette Vestergård - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Galina Gussarova - University of Oslo
James Haile - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Joseph Craine - Kansas State University
Ludovic Gielly - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Sanne Boessenkool - University of Oslo
Laura S. Epp - University of Oslo
Peter B. Pearman - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Rachid Cheddadi - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
David Murray - University of Alaska Fairbanks
Kari Anne Bråthen - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Nigel Yoccoz - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Heather Binney - University of Southampton
Corinne Cruaud - Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission
Patrick Wincker - Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission
Tomasz Goslar - Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Inger Greve Alsos - Tromsø research foundation
Eva Bellemain - University of Oslo
Anne Krag Brysting - University of Oslo
Reidar Elven - University of Oslo
Jørn Henrik Sønstebø - University of Oslo
Julian Murton - University of Sussex
Andrei Sher - Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution
Morten Rasmussen - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Regin Ronn - University of Copenhagen
Tobias Mourier - University of Copenhagen
Alan Cooper - University of Adelaide
Jeremy Austin - University of Adelaide
Per Moller - Lund University
Duane Froese - University of Alberta
Grant Zazula - Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture
Francois Pompanon - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Delphine Rioux - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Vincent Niderkorn - Unité Mixte de Recherche sur les Herbivores
Alexei Tikhonov - Zoological Institute
Grigoriy Savvinov - North-Eastern Federal University
Richard G. Roberts - University of Wollongong
Ross D. E. Macphee - American Museum of Natural History
M. Thomas P. Gilbert - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Kurt H. Kjær - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Ludovic Orlando - Natural History Museum Aarhus
Christian Brochmann - University of Oslo
Pierre Taberlet - Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine
Publication Details: Nature (London), Vol.506(7486), pp.47-51
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Identifiers: 9942156908331
Academic Unit: King Abdullah University of Science & Technology; King Saud University
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article