How have studies of ancient <scp>DNA</scp> from sediments contributed to the reconstruction of Quaternary floras?

Birks, H. J. B.; Birks, Hilary H.

doi:10.1111/nph.13657

Cited by 67 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Willerslev et al, 2003Willerslev et al, , 2007Willerslev et al, , 2014Pansu et al, 2015;Alsos et al, 2016), to date there have been few investigations concerning important aspects of sedDNA taphonomy, such as (1) the source area of plant DNA, (2) whether quantitative relationships exist between vegetation components and sedDNA, (3) how presence and absence are best defined when small quantities of sedDNA are present, and (4) whether sedDNA exhibits vertical mobility in a sedimentary column. Thus, further studies are necessary to reveal the full potential (and possible pitfalls) of using sedDNA as a proxy for vegetation composition (see Pedersen et al, 2015;Thomsen & Willerslev, 2015;Barnes & Turner, 2016;Birks & Birks, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

et al. 2016

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Summary Sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) has recently emerged as a new proxy for reconstructing past vegetation, but its taphonomy, source area and representation biases need better assessment. We investigated how sedDNA in recent sediments of two small Scottish lakes reflects a major vegetation change, using well‐documented 20th Century plantations of exotic conifers as an experimental system.We used next‐generation sequencing to barcode sedDNA retrieved from subrecent lake sediments. For comparison, pollen was analysed from the same samples.The sedDNA record contains 73 taxa (mainly genus or species), all but one of which are present in the study area. Pollen and sedDNA shared 35% of taxa, which partly reflects a difference in source area. More aquatic taxa were recorded in sedDNA, whereas taxa assumed to be of regional rather than local origin were recorded only as pollen.The chronology of the sediments and planting records are well aligned, and sedDNA of exotic conifers appears in high quantities with the establishment of plantations around the lakes. SedDNA recorded other changes in local vegetation that accompanied afforestation. There were no signs of DNA leaching in the sediments or DNA originating from pollen.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

et al. 2016

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“…Lake sediments are a major source of palaeoenvironmental information [24] and, given good preservation, DNA in lake sediments can provide information on biodiversity change over time [4, 22, 25]. However, sedimentary ancient DNA is still beset by authentication issues [2,10]. For example, the authenticity and source of DNA reported in several recent studies have been questioned [26-30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabarcoding lake sediments: taphonomy and representation of contemporary vegetation in environmental DNA (eDNA) records

Alsos

Lammers

Yoccoz

et al. 2018

Preprint

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21Metabarcoding of lake sediments may reveal current and past biodiversity, but little is known 22 about the degree to which taxa growing in the vegetation are represented in environmental DNA 23 (eDNA) records. We analysed composition of lake and catchment vegetation and vascular plant eDNA 24 at 11 lakes in northern Norway. Out of 489 records of taxa growing within 2 m from the lake shore, 25 17-49% (mean 31%) of the identifiable taxa recorded were detected with eDNA. Of the 217 eDNA 26 records, 73% and 12% matched taxa recorded in vegetation surveys within 2 m and up to about 50 m 27 away from the lakeshore, respectively, whereas 16% were not recorded in the vegetation surveys of 28 the same lake. The latter include taxa likely overlooked in the vegetation surveys or growing outside 29 the survey area. The percentages detected were 61, 47, 25, and 15 for dominant, common, scattered, 30 and rare taxa, respectively. Similar numbers for aquatic plants were 88, 88, 33 and 62%, respectively. 31 Detection rate and taxonomic resolution varied among plant families and functional groups with good 32 detection of e.g. Ericaceae, Roseaceae, deciduous trees, ferns, club mosses and aquatics. The 33 representation of terrestrial taxa in eDNA depends on both their distance from the sampling site and 34

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“…However, the difficulty of analysing PalEnDNA may give rise to erroneous results, especially in the sense of false positives (Ficetola et al, 2015). Moreover, knowledge about contamination, transportation, incorporation, and preservation of DNA in sediments is a prerequisite (Rawlence et al, 2014;Birks and Birks, 2016).…”

Section: New Molecular Methods For Assessing Present-day and Past Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic drivers of river and floodplain geomorphology – New molecular methods for assessing present‐day and past biota

Larsen

Alvarez

Sperisen

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Geomorphology has increasingly considered the role of biotic factors as controls upon geomorphic processes across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Where timescales are long (centennial and longer), it has been possible to quantify relationships between geomorphic processes and vegetation using, for example, the pollen record. However, where the biotic agents are fauna, longer term reconstruction of the impacts of biological activity upon geomorphic processes is more challenging. Here, we review the prospect of using environmental DNA as a molecular proxy to decipher the presence and nature of faunal influences on geomorphic processes in both present and ancient deposits. When used appropriately, this method has the potential to improve our understanding of biotic drivers of geomorphic processes, notably fauna, over long timescales and so to reconstruct how such drivers might explain the landscape as we see it today. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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How have studies of ancient DNA from sediments contributed to the reconstruction of Quaternary floras?

Cited by 67 publications

References 47 publications

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

Metabarcoding lake sediments: taphonomy and representation of contemporary vegetation in environmental DNA (eDNA) records

Biotic drivers of river and floodplain geomorphology – New molecular methods for assessing present‐day and past biota

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How have studies of ancient DNA from sediments contributed to the reconstruction of Quaternary floras?

Cited by 67 publications

References 47 publications

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

Metabarcoding lake sediments: taphonomy and representation of contemporary vegetation in environmental DNA (eDNA) records

Biotic drivers of river and floodplain geomorphology – New molecular methods for assessing present‐day and past biota

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Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland

Lake sedimentary DNA accurately records 20^th Century introductions of exotic conifers in Scotland