A Younger Dryas signature in bison bone stable isotopes from the southern Plains of North America

Carlson, Kristen; Bement, Leland C.; Carter, Brian J.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Kennett, Douglas J.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.03.001

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The δ 13 C means of temporal episodes were also used to calculate the percentage of C 3 and C 4 grasses in bison using equation 1, modified from Carlson et al (2018) 32 .where δ 13 C collagen includes a 6.3‰ adjustment for trophic level fractionation specific to bison 16,66 , δ 13 C C4 = −12.5‰ and δ 13 C C3 = −26.5‰.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there are other factors that contribute to nitrogen values in herbivores. Higher nitrogen can indicate warmer temperatures and a diet composed of more graminoids and herbs than trees and shrubs 13,29–32 . In modern European bison, it was found that canopy cover had the biggest influence on δ 15 N, where less light will decrease nitrogen values in plants 29 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…North American isotopic studies of bison to date have primarily focused on Pleistocene paleoecology 30,31,33–36 , climatic interpretations 11,32 , and values from modern herds 12,27,37 . At present, there are few isotopic studies of Holocene bison in North America.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isotopic paleoecology of Northern Great Plains bison during the Holocene

Davies

McCann

Sturdevant

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Bison (Bison bison) are one of the few terrestrial megafauna to survive the transition into the Holocene and provide a unique opportunity to study a species on a broad spatiotemporal scale. Today, bison are primarily managed in small and isolated herds with little known about their ancestral ecology. We studied the carbon and nitrogen isotopes of Northern Great Plains bison from the terminal Pleistocene and throughout the Holocene to gain insight into their paleoecology. This time span is contemporary with the first population bottleneck experienced by bison at the end of the Pleistocene and includes the second bottleneck which occurred in the late 19th century. Results were compared with modern bison herd isotopic values from Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). Patterns of isotopic variation found in bison over time indicate significant (δ13C p = 0.0008, δ15N p = 0.002) differences in diet composition and correlate with climate throughout the Holocene. Isotopic relationships described here reveal the plasticity of ancient bison in unrestricted rangelands during periods of climatic fluctuations. Managers at TRNP and elsewhere should pursue opportunities to expand bison range to maximize forage opportunities for the species in the face of future environmental change.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isotopic paleoecology of Northern Great Plains bison during the Holocene

Davies

McCann

Sturdevant

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There are several drivers of δ 15 N variation in animals, which can make it a challenging system to study although δ 15 N values can demonstrate important relationships. For example, δ 15 N values in ancient megafauna have been found to have a strong relationship with the amount of precipitation during the Pleistocene (Carlson et al, 2016;Drucker et al, 2003;Graham et al, 2016;Heaton et al, 1986;Rabanus-Wallace et al, 2017), which is likely due in part to major changes in soil ecology in response to climatic change (Hobbie and Hobbie, 2006;Stevens et al, 2006). However, for higher resolution δ 15 N we must consider behavioral and physiological explanations for change found in serially analyzed tissues (Drucker et al, 2010).…”

Section: Stable Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 99%