Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change
Large-scale changes in global climate at the end of the Pleistocene significantly impacted ecosystems across North America. However, the pace and scale of biotic turnover in response to both the Younger Dryas cold period and subsequent Holocene rapid warming have been challenging to assess because o...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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NATURE RESEARCH
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160104473 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90792 |
| _version_ | 1848765429630107648 |
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| author | Seersholm, Frederik Werndly, Daniel Grealy, Alicia Johnson, T. Keenan Early, E.M. Lundelius, E.L. Winsborough, B. Farr, G.E. Toomey, R. Hansen, A.J. Shapiro, B. Waters, M.R. McDonald, G. Linderholm, A. Stafford, T.W. Bunce, Michael |
| author_facet | Seersholm, Frederik Werndly, Daniel Grealy, Alicia Johnson, T. Keenan Early, E.M. Lundelius, E.L. Winsborough, B. Farr, G.E. Toomey, R. Hansen, A.J. Shapiro, B. Waters, M.R. McDonald, G. Linderholm, A. Stafford, T.W. Bunce, Michael |
| author_sort | Seersholm, Frederik |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Large-scale changes in global climate at the end of the Pleistocene significantly impacted ecosystems across North America. However, the pace and scale of biotic turnover in response to both the Younger Dryas cold period and subsequent Holocene rapid warming have been challenging to assess because of the scarcity of well dated fossil and pollen records that covers this period. Here we present an ancient DNA record from Hall’s Cave, Texas, that documents 100 vertebrate and 45 plant taxa from bulk fossils and sediment. We show that local plant and animal diversity dropped markedly during Younger Dryas cooling, but while plant diversity recovered in the early Holocene, animal diversity did not. Instead, five extant and nine extinct large bodied animals disappeared from the region at the end of the Pleistocene. Our findings suggest that climate change affected the local ecosystem in Texas over the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, but climate change on its own may not explain the disappearance of the megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:07Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90792 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:07Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | NATURE RESEARCH |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-907922023-04-20T06:20:09Z Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change Seersholm, Frederik Werndly, Daniel Grealy, Alicia Johnson, T. Keenan Early, E.M. Lundelius, E.L. Winsborough, B. Farr, G.E. Toomey, R. Hansen, A.J. Shapiro, B. Waters, M.R. McDonald, G. Linderholm, A. Stafford, T.W. Bunce, Michael Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics CENTRAL TEXAS POLLEN CAVE DNA DEGLACIATION COMMUNITIES HOLOCENE BEHAVIOR PLANT AGE Large-scale changes in global climate at the end of the Pleistocene significantly impacted ecosystems across North America. However, the pace and scale of biotic turnover in response to both the Younger Dryas cold period and subsequent Holocene rapid warming have been challenging to assess because of the scarcity of well dated fossil and pollen records that covers this period. Here we present an ancient DNA record from Hall’s Cave, Texas, that documents 100 vertebrate and 45 plant taxa from bulk fossils and sediment. We show that local plant and animal diversity dropped markedly during Younger Dryas cooling, but while plant diversity recovered in the early Holocene, animal diversity did not. Instead, five extant and nine extinct large bodied animals disappeared from the region at the end of the Pleistocene. Our findings suggest that climate change affected the local ecosystem in Texas over the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, but climate change on its own may not explain the disappearance of the megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90792 10.1038/s41467-020-16502-3 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160104473 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ NATURE RESEARCH fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics CENTRAL TEXAS POLLEN CAVE DNA DEGLACIATION COMMUNITIES HOLOCENE BEHAVIOR PLANT AGE Seersholm, Frederik Werndly, Daniel Grealy, Alicia Johnson, T. Keenan Early, E.M. Lundelius, E.L. Winsborough, B. Farr, G.E. Toomey, R. Hansen, A.J. Shapiro, B. Waters, M.R. McDonald, G. Linderholm, A. Stafford, T.W. Bunce, Michael Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title | Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title_full | Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title_fullStr | Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title_short | Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |
| title_sort | rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late pleistocene climate change |
| topic | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics CENTRAL TEXAS POLLEN CAVE DNA DEGLACIATION COMMUNITIES HOLOCENE BEHAVIOR PLANT AGE |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160104473 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90792 |