Late quaternary biotic homogenization of North American mammalian faunas

Danielle Fraser (), Amelia Villaseñor, Anikó B. Tóth, Meghan A. Balk, Jussi T. Eronen, W. Andrew Barr, A. K. Behrensmeyer, Matt Davis, Andrew Du, J. Tyler Faith, Gary R. Graves, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Advait M. Jukar, Cindy V. Looy, Brian J. McGill, Joshua H. Miller, Silvia Pineda-Munoz, Richard Potts, Alex B. Shupinski, Laura C. Soul and S. Kathleen Lyons
Additional contact information
Danielle Fraser: Palaeobiology, Canadian Museum of Nature
Amelia Villaseñor: University of Arkansas
Anikó B. Tóth: University of New South Wales
Meghan A. Balk: Battelle Memorial Institute
Jussi T. Eronen: University of Helsinki
W. Andrew Barr: The George Washington University
A. K. Behrensmeyer: National Museum of Natural History
Matt Davis: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Andrew Du: Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery
J. Tyler Faith: University of Utah
Gary R. Graves: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Nicholas J. Gotelli: University of Vermont, Burlington
Advait M. Jukar: National Museum of Natural History
Cindy V. Looy: University of California, Berkeley, Valley Life Sciences Building
Brian J. McGill: University of Maine
Joshua H. Miller: University of Cincinnati
Silvia Pineda-Munoz: Indiana University
Richard Potts: Smithsonian Institution
Alex B. Shupinski: University of Nebraska Lincoln
Laura C. Soul: National Museum of Natural History
S. Kathleen Lyons: University of Nebraska Lincoln

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Biotic homogenization—increasing similarity of species composition among ecological communities—has been linked to anthropogenic processes operating over the last century. Fossil evidence, however, suggests that humans have had impacts on ecosystems for millennia. We quantify biotic homogenization of North American mammalian assemblages during the late Pleistocene through Holocene (~30,000 ybp to recent), a timespan encompassing increased evidence of humans on the landscape (~20,000–14,000 ybp). From ~10,000 ybp to recent, assemblages became significantly more homogenous (>100% increase in Jaccard similarity), a pattern that cannot be explained by changes in fossil record sampling. Homogenization was most pronounced among mammals larger than 1 kg and occurred in two phases. The first followed the megafaunal extinction at ~10,000 ybp. The second, more rapid phase began during human population growth and early agricultural intensification (~2,000–1,000 ybp). We show that North American ecosystems were homogenizing for millennia, extending human impacts back ~10,000 years.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31595-8

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