Article (Scientific journals)
Serial population extinctions in a small mammal indicate Late Pleistocene ecosystem instability
Brace, Selina; Palkopoulou, Eleftheria; Dalén, Love et al.
2012In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (50), p. 20532-20536
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Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. JX867564–JX867613). This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. 1073/pnas.1213322109/-/DCSupplemental.


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Keywords :
megafauna; palaeoclimate; modelling
Abstract :
[en] The Late Pleistocene global extinction of many terrestrial mammal species has been a subject of intensive scientific study for over a century, yet the relative contributions of environmental changes and the global expansion of humans remain unresolved. A defining component of these extinctions is a bias toward large species, with the majority of small-mammal taxa apparently surviving into the present. Here, we investigate the population-level history of a key tundra-specialist small mammal, the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus), to explore whether events during the Late Pleistocene had a discernible effect beyond the large mammal fauna. Using ancient DNA techniques to sample across three sites in North-West Europe, we observe a dramatic reduction in genetic diversity in this species over the last 50,000 y. We further identify a series of extinction-recolonization events, indicating a previously unrecognized instability in Late Pleistocene small-mammal populations, which we link with climatic fluctuations. Our results reveal climate-associated, repeated regional extinctions in a keystone prey species across the Late Pleistocene, a pattern likely to have had an impact on the wider steppe-tundra community, and one that is concordant with environmental change as a major force in structuring Late Pleistocene biodiversity.
Disciplines :
Archaeology
Genetics & genetic processes
Author, co-author :
Brace, Selina;  Royal holloway university of London > School of Biological Sciences
Palkopoulou, Eleftheria;  Swedish Museum of Natural History > Molecular Systematics
Dalén, Love;  Swedish Museum of Natural History > Molecular Systematics
Lister, Adrian;  Natural History Museum of London > Palaeontology
Miller, Rebecca ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences historiques > Archéologie préhistorique
Otte, Marcel ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences historiques > Archéologie préhistorique
Germonpré, Mietje;  Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique > Palaeontology
Blockley, Simon;  Royal Holloway University of London > geography > Centre for Quaternary Research
Stewart, John;  Bournemouth University > School of Applied Sciences > Centre for Conservation, Ecology and Environmental Change
Barnes, Ian;  Royal Holloway University of London > School of Biological Sciences
Language :
English
Title :
Serial population extinctions in a small mammal indicate Late Pleistocene ecosystem instability
Publication date :
11 December 2012
Journal title :
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ISSN :
0027-8424
eISSN :
1091-6490
Publisher :
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, United States - District of Columbia
Volume :
109
Issue :
50
Pages :
20532-20536
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
European Projects :
FP7 - 226506 - SYNTHESYS - Synthesis of Systematic Resources
Name of the research project :
EU FP6 ERA-NET project CLIMIGRATE
Funders :
NERC - Natural Environment Research Council [GB]
Sverige Vetenskapsrådet [SE]
Service public de Wallonie : Direction générale opérationnelle de l'aménagement du territoire, du logement, du patrimoine et de l'énergie - DG04
Natural Environment Research Council (Royaume-Uni) - NERC, Arts and Humanities Research Council Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service Grant
CE - Commission Européenne [BE]
Funding text :
European Community Research Infrastructure, FP7: SYNTHESYS2
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since 27 February 2013

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