Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorSeersholm, Frederik
dc.contributor.authorWerndly, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorGrealy, Alicia
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, T.
dc.contributor.authorKeenan Early, E.M.
dc.contributor.authorLundelius, E.L.
dc.contributor.authorWinsborough, B.
dc.contributor.authorFarr, G.E.
dc.contributor.authorToomey, R.
dc.contributor.authorHansen, A.J.
dc.contributor.authorShapiro, B.
dc.contributor.authorWaters, M.R.
dc.contributor.authorMcDonald, G.
dc.contributor.authorLinderholm, A.
dc.contributor.authorStafford, T.W.
dc.contributor.authorBunce, Michael
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-09T08:03:05Z
dc.date.available2023-03-09T08:03:05Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.identifier.citationSeersholm, F.V. and Werndly, D.J. and Grealy, A. and Johnson, T. and Keenan Early, E.M. and Lundelius, E.L. and Winsborough, B. et al. 2020. Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change. Nature Communications. 11 (1): ARTN 2770.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90792
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41467-020-16502-3
dc.description.abstract

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.

dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherNATURE RESEARCH
dc.relation.sponsoredbyhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160104473
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectScience & Technology
dc.subjectMultidisciplinary Sciences
dc.subjectScience & Technology - Other Topics
dc.subjectCENTRAL TEXAS
dc.subjectPOLLEN
dc.subjectCAVE
dc.subjectDNA
dc.subjectDEGLACIATION
dc.subjectCOMMUNITIES
dc.subjectHOLOCENE
dc.subjectBEHAVIOR
dc.subjectPLANT
dc.subjectAGE
dc.titleRapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume11
dcterms.source.number1
dcterms.source.issn2041-1723
dcterms.source.titleNature Communications
dc.date.updated2023-03-09T08:03:05Z
curtin.departmentSchool of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
curtin.accessStatusOpen access
curtin.facultyFaculty of Science and Engineering
curtin.contributor.orcidBunce, Michael [0000-0002-0302-4206]
curtin.contributor.orcidSeersholm, Frederik [0000-0003-2217-3247]
curtin.identifier.article-numberARTN 2770
dcterms.source.eissn2041-1723
curtin.contributor.scopusauthoridBunce, Michael [55160482300]


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/