Middle East coastal ecosystem response to middle-to-late Holocene abrupt climate changes

Kaniewski, David; Paulissen, Étienne; Campo, Elise Van; Al-Maqdissi, M.; Bretschneider, Joachim; Lerberghe, Karel Van

doi:10.1073/pnas.0803533105

Cited by 94 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…However, climatic events have been recorded within the Holocene (e.g. Rohling and Pälike, 2005) and a causal relationship has been made between some abrupt climatic events and societal changes in the Mediterranean (Berger and Guilaine, 2009;Kaniewski et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and ecosystems dynamics over the last 6000 years in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The present study aims at reconstructing past climate changes and their environmental impacts on plant ecosystems during the last 6000 years in the Middle Atlas, Morocco. Mean January temperature (T jan ), annual precipitation (P ann ), winter (P w ) and summer (P s ) precipitation, and a seasonal index (SI) have all been quantified from a fossil pollen record. Several bio-and geo-chemical elements have also been analysed to evaluate the links between past climate, landscape, and ecosystem changes.Over the last 6000 years, climate has changed within a low temperature and precipitation range with a trend of aridity and warming towards the present. T jan has varied within a ca. 2 • C range, and P ann within less than 100 mm yr −1 . The longterm changes reconstructed in our record between 6 ka cal BP and today are consistent with the aridity trend observed in the Mediterranean basin. Despite the overall limited range of climate fluctuation, we observe major changes in the ecosystem composition, the carbon isotopic contents of organic matter (δ 13 C), the total organic carbon and nitrogen amount, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C / N) after ca. 3750 cal BP. The main ecosystem changes correspond to a noticeable transition in the conifer forest between the Atlas cedar, which expanded after 3750 cal BP, and the pine forest. These vegetation changes impacted the sedimentation type and its composition in the lake.Between 5500 and 5000 cal BP, we observe an abrupt change in all proxies which is coherent with a decrease in T jan without a significant change in the overall amount of precipitation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and ecosystems dynamics over the last 6000 years in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

et al. 2016

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“…The genetic distinctiveness of the EAF population, which could be a consequence of a random founder effect, might explain the precocity of its N e decline. The drastic population reduction observed across all populations possibly relates to abrupt worldwide climate events, which triggered a general cooling and drying of the northern hemisphere, causing region-wide crop failures and the collapse of several civilizations (49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55). By the time cultural control over the wild dromedary was initiated, its native population and distribution may already have become diminished (SI Appendix, Fig.…”

Section: K=mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient and modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross-continental dispersal of the dromedary

Almathen

Charruau

Mohandesan

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

135

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Dromedaries have been fundamental to the development of human societies in arid landscapes and for long-distance trade across hostile hot terrains for 3,000 y. Today they continue to be an important livestock resource in marginal agro-ecological zones. However, the history of dromedary domestication and the influence of ancient trading networks on their genetic structure have remained elusive. We combined ancient DNA sequences of wild and early-domesticated dromedary samples from arid regions with nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial genotype information from 1,083 extant animals collected across the species' range. We observe little phylogeographic signal in the modern population, indicative of extensive gene flow and virtually affecting all regions except East Africa, where dromedary populations have remained relatively isolated. In agreement with archaeological findings, we identify wild dromedaries from the southeast Arabian Peninsula among the founders of the domestic dromedary gene pool. Approximate Bayesian computations further support the "restocking from the wild" hypothesis, with an initial domestication followed by introgression from individuals from wild, now-extinct populations. Compared with other livestock, which show a long history of gene flow with their wild ancestors, we find a high initial diversity relative to the native distribution of the wild ancestor on the Arabian Peninsula and to the brief coexistence of early-domesticated and wild individuals. This study also demonstrates the potential to retrieve ancient DNA sequences from osseous remains excavated in hot and dry desert environments.anthropogenic admixture | Camelus dromedarius | demographic history | paleogenetics | wild dromedary T he dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) is one of the largest domestic ungulates and one of the most recent additions to livestock. Known as the "ship of the desert" (1), it enabled the transportation of people and valuable goods (e.g., salt, incense, spices) over long distances connecting Arabia, the Near East, and North Africa. This multipurpose animal has outperformed all other domestic mammals, including the donkey, in arid environments and continues to provide basic commodities to millions of people inhabiting marginal agro-ecological zones. In the current context of advancing desertification and global climate change, there is renewed interest in the biology and production traits of the species (2), with the first annotated genome drafts having been recently released (3, 4). SignificanceThe dromedary is one of the largest domesticates, sustainably used in arid and hostile environments. It provides food and transport to millions of people in marginal agricultural areas. We show how important long-distance and back-and-forth movements in ancient caravan routes shaped the species' genetic diversity. Using a global sample set and ancient mitochondrial DNA analyses, we describe the population structure in modern dromedaries and their wild extinct ancestors. Phylogenetic analyses of ancient and modern dro...

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“…Between 3.5 and 2.5 ka BP, another RCC episode (RCC2) with North Atlantic ice rafting (Bond event B2) and strengthened westerlies is found, whereas the signature of the 1.2-1.0 ka BP episode (RCC1) again widely resembles that of RCC3. (van Geel et al, 1996;Swindles et al, 2007;Plunkett and Swindles, 2008), early third millennium BP drought in the eastern Mediterranean (Weiss, 1982;Kaniewski et al, 2008Kaniewski et al, , 2010, possibly triggering the collapse of Late Bronze Age cultures B3 ≈ 4.2 4.2 ka event, collapse of the Akkadian Empire (Gibbons, 1993;Weiss et al, 1993;Cullen et al, 2000;Stanley et al, 2003;Drysdale et al, 2006) While the existence of episodes of Holocene rapid climate changes is meanwhile widely accepted, there is an ongoing debate about the timing and spatial coherency of these patterns. For example, Wanner et al (2008) used a different set of palaeoclimate time series and "did not find any time period for which a rapid or dramatic climatic transition appears even in a majority of the time series" with the exception of two large-scale shifts at about 5.2 ka BP and between 3.1 and 2.5 ka BP, which partly coincide with the RCC4 and RCC2 episodes reported by Mayewski et al (2004).…”

Section: Holocene Climate Variability In the Asian Monsoon Domain: Cumentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-linear regime shifts in Holocene Asian monsoon variability: potential impacts on cultural change and migratory patterns

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The Asian monsoon system is an important tipping element in Earth's climate with a large impact on human societies in the past and present. In light of the potentially severe impacts of present and future anthropogenic climate change on Asian hydrology, it is vital to understand the forcing mechanisms of past climatic regime shifts in the Asian monsoon domain. Here we use novel recurrence network analysis techniques for detecting episodes with pronounced non-linear changes in Holocene Asian monsoon dynamics recorded in speleothems from caves distributed throughout the major branches of the Asian monsoon system. A newly developed multi-proxy methodology explicitly considers dating uncertainties with the COPRA (COnstructing Proxy Records from Age models) approach and allows for detection of continental-scale regime shifts in the complexity of monsoon dynamics. Several epochs are characterised by non-linear regime shifts in Asian monsoon variability, including the periods around 8.5-7.9, 5.7-5.0, 4.1-3.7, and 3.0-2.4 ka BP. The timing of these regime shifts is consistent with known episodes of Holocene rapid climate change (RCC) and high-latitude Bond events. Additionally, we observe a previously rarely reported non-linear regime shift around 7.3 ka BP, a timing that matches the typical 1.0-1.5 ky return intervals of Bond events. A detailed review of previously suggested links between Holocene climatic changes in the Asian monsoon domain and the archaeological record indicates that, in addition to previously considered longer-term changes in mean monsoon intensity and other climatic parameters, regime shifts in monsoon complexity might have played an important role as drivers of migration, pronounced cultural changes, and the collapse of ancient human societies.

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Middle East coastal ecosystem response to middle-to-late Holocene abrupt climate changes

Cited by 94 publications

References 39 publications

Climate change and ecosystems dynamics over the last 6000 years in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

Climate change and ecosystems dynamics over the last 6000 years in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

Ancient and modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross-continental dispersal of the dromedary

Non-linear regime shifts in Holocene Asian monsoon variability: potential impacts on cultural change and migratory patterns

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