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 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 and Pierre Taberlet
Additional contact information
Eske Willerslev: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
John Davison: Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia
Mari Moora: Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia
Martin Zobel: Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Street, 51005 Tartu, Estonia
Eric Coissac: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Mary E. Edwards: Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Eline D. Lorenzen: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Mette Vestergård: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Galina Gussarova: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
James Haile: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Joseph Craine: Kansas State University
Ludovic Gielly: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Sanne Boessenkool: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Laura S. Epp: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Peter B. Pearman: Landscape Dynamics Unit, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Rachid Cheddadi: Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, UMR 5554 Université Montpellier 2, Bat.22, CC061, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
David Murray: University of Alaska Museum of the North
Kari Anne Bråthen: UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Nigel Yoccoz: UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Heather Binney: Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Corinne Cruaud: Genoscope, Institut de Genomique du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), 91000 Evry, France
Patrick Wincker: Genoscope, Institut de Genomique du Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), 91000 Evry, France
Tomasz Goslar: Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Physics, Umultowska 85, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Inger Greve Alsos: Tromsø University Museum, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Eva Bellemain: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Anne Krag Brysting: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway
Reidar Elven: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Jørn Henrik Sønstebø: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Julian Murton: Permafrost Laboratory, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK
Andrei Sher: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, 119071 Moscow, Russia
Morten Rasmussen: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Regin Rønn: Terrestrial Ecology, Universitetsparken 15, DK- 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Tobias Mourier: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Alan Cooper: Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia
Jeremy Austin: Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005 South Australia, Australia
Per Möller: Lund University Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Duane Froese: University of Alberta, T6G 2E3 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Grant Zazula: Government of Yukon, Yukon Palaeontology Program, PO Box 2703 L2A, Y1A 2C6 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
François Pompanon: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Delphine Rioux: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
Vincent Niderkorn: INRA, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France
Alexei Tikhonov: Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034 Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Grigoriy Savvinov: Institute of Applied Ecology of the North of North-Eastern Federal University, Belinskogo Street 58, 677000 Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia
Richard G. Roberts: Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522 New South Wales, Australia
Ross D. E. MacPhee: American Museum of Natural History
M. Thomas P. Gilbert: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Kurt H. Kjær: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Ludovic Orlando: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, Oster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Christian Brochmann: National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172, Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway
Pierre Taberlet: Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine (LECA) CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

Nature, 2014, vol. 506, issue 7486, 47-51

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/nature12921

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