Long livestock farming history and human landscape shaping revealed by lake sediment DNA

Charline Giguet-Covex (), Johan Pansu (), Fabien Arnaud, Pierre-Jérôme Rey, Christophe Griggo, Ludovic Gielly, Isabelle Domaizon, Eric Coissac, Fernand David, Philippe Choler, Jérôme Poulenard and Pierre Taberlet
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Charline Giguet-Covex: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier
Johan Pansu: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier
Fabien Arnaud: EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne
Pierre-Jérôme Rey: EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne
Christophe Griggo: EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne
Ludovic Gielly: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier
Isabelle Domaizon: INRA, UMR042 CARRTEL
Eric Coissac: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier
Fernand David: CEREGE, Université Aix-Marseille
Philippe Choler: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier
Jérôme Poulenard: EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne
Pierre Taberlet: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The reconstruction of human-driven, Earth-shaping dynamics is important for understanding past human/environment interactions and for helping human societies that currently face global changes. However, it is often challenging to distinguish the effects of the climate from human activities on environmental changes. Here we evaluate an approach based on DNA metabarcoding used on lake sediments to provide the first high-resolution reconstruction of plant cover and livestock farming history since the Neolithic Period. By comparing these data with a previous reconstruction of erosive event frequency, we show that the most intense erosion period was caused by deforestation and overgrazing by sheep and cowherds during the Late Iron Age and Roman Period. Tracking plants and domestic mammals using lake sediment DNA (lake sedDNA) is a new, promising method for tracing past human practices, and it provides a new outlook of the effects of anthropogenic factors on landscape-scale changes.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4211

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