Potential plant extinctions with the loss of the Pleistocene mammoth steppe

Jérémy Courtin, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Simeon Lisovski, Ying Liu, Inger Greve Alsos, Boris K. Biskaborn, Bernhard Diekmann, Martin Melles, Bernd Wagner, Luidmila Pestryakova, James Russell, Yongsong Huang and Ulrike Herzschuh ()
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Jérémy Courtin: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Simeon Lisovski: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Ying Liu: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Inger Greve Alsos: UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
Boris K. Biskaborn: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Bernhard Diekmann: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Martin Melles: University of Cologne
Bernd Wagner: University of Cologne
Luidmila Pestryakova: North-Eastern Federal University of Yakutsk
James Russell: Brown University
Yongsong Huang: Brown University
Ulrike Herzschuh: Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, the dominant mammoth steppe ecosystem across northern Eurasia vanished, in parallel with megafauna extinctions. However, plant extinction patterns are rarely detected due to lack of identifiable fossil records. Here, we introduce a method for detection of plant taxa loss at regional (extirpation) to potentially global scale (extinction) and their causes, as determined from ancient plant DNA metabarcoding in sediment cores (sedaDNA) from lakes in Siberia and Alaska over the past 28,000 years. Overall, potential plant extinctions track changes in temperature, in vegetation, and in megafauna extinctions at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Estimated potential plant extinction rates were 1.7–5.9 extinctions per million species years (E/MSY), above background extinction rates but below modern estimates. Major potential plant extinction events were detected around 17,000 and 9000 years ago which lag maximum vegetation turnover. Our results indicate that herbaceous taxa and taxa contributing less to beta diversity are more vulnerable to extinction. While the robustness of the estimates will increase as DNA reference libraries and ancient sedaDNA data expand, the available data support that plants are more resilient to environmental changes than mammals.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55542-x

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