Reframing the mammoth steppe: Insights from analysis of isotopic niches

Schwartz-Narbonne, Rachel; Longstaffe, Frederick J.; Kardynal, Kevin J.; Druckenmiller, Patrick; Hobson, Keith A.; Jass, Christopher N.; Metcalfe, Jessica Z.; Zazula, Grant D.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.04.025

Cited by 45 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 287 publications

(415 reference statements)

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“…To get a better understanding of these extinction events, palaeoecologists are striving to reconstruct the habitat and vegetation types in which the Pleistocene megaherbivores were living using climate-based modelling (Allen et al 2010, Janská et al 2017, pollen (Tarasov et al 2000), macrofossils (Sher et al 2005) and recently also DNA analyses of plant remains (Willerslev et al 2014) or stable isotopes (Rivals et al 2010, Schwartz-Narbonne et al 2019). However, each method of palaeovegetation reconstructions suffers from various constraints that can distort interpretations of the past landscape changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitats of Pleistocene megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna remains

et al. 2020

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The Late Pleistocene landscape in northern Eurasia and North America was inhabited by a specific megafaunal complex, which largely disappeared during the Pleistocene/ Holocene transition. Vegetation changes are considered as one of the factors responsible for these extinctions, but the structure and composition of the Pleistocene vegetation are still poorly known. Here we complement previous studies by comparing the taxonomic composition of the plant remains found in the gastrointestinal tracts of the frozen carcasses of Pleistocene megaherbivores with the species composition of the current Siberian vegetation. We compiled a dataset of palaeobotanical records from frozen individuals of Pleistocene megaherbivores found in northern Siberia and Beringia and dated to the period from more than 50 kyr BP to 9 kyr BP. We also compiled a dataset of vegetation plots from several regions in Siberia. We analysed the similarity in taxonomic composition of plants between these two datasets using a novel method that accounts for variable taxonomic resolution in palaeobotanical data. For most megaherbivore individuals, plant remains in their gastrointestinal tracts corresponded to tundra, forest and mire vegetation, while they showed low similarity to steppe. This pattern was relatively constant over time, showing no remarkable differences between the Last Glacial Maximum and the periods before and afterwards. This suggests that during the Upper Pleistocene, a mosaic of mesic and wet vegetation types such as tundra with patches of forests and mires was common in northern Siberia and Beringia. In contrast, the steppe was rare to absent in the landscape or underused by the megaherbivores as a pasture since they found enough food in the widespread mesic and wet habitats with more productive vegetation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitats of Pleistocene megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna remains

et al. 2020

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“…Trends in mammoth δ 13 C coll are similar across their range during the late Wisconsin. Siberian and European mammoths exhibit a similar range of δ 13 C coll values (Iacumin et al 2010;Szpak et al 2010;Arppe et al 2019;Schwartz-Narbonne et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Life histories and niche dynamics in late Quaternary proboscideans from Midwestern North America: evidence from stable isotope analyses

Widga

Hodgins

Kolis

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Stable isotopes of mammoths and mastodons have the potential to illuminate patterns in late Glacial landscapes and megafaunal population dynamics as these species approached extinction. The ecological factors at play in this extinction remain unresolved. Stable isotopes of bone collagen (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) and tooth enamel carbonate (δ 13 C, δ 18 O, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) in late Glacial proboscideans from the Midwest, USA are leveraged to examine ecological and behavioral changes in these species during the last glaciation. Mammoth and mastodon δ 13 C values suggest they are flexible mixed feeders with significant C3 contributions to their diets. Bone collagen δ 15 N is also highly variable throughout this period. However some mastodons exhibit low δ 15 N values during the B lling-Aller d. These low values could be explained by invoking changes in individual life histories (i.e., age at weaning), the expansion of available ecological niches, or both, metabolic compensation, or a mixture of these processes. Serial enamel samples show large differences between interglacial, mid-Wisconsin, and late Glacial mammoth oxygen isotope values. Finally, a new micro-milling approach to sampling mammoth tooth enamel is used to examine the life histories of two Missouri mammoths to provide nuanced, seasonally-resolved paleoecological information.

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“…During the last deglaciation (15–10 ka), much of the herb‐steppe‐tundra habitat across North America was lost, often replaced by wetland and forest (Barnosky et al., 2004; Strong & Hills, 2005; Willerslev et al., 2014). The competition among the megafauna species may have increased due to the loss of habitat, with survival pressure potentially exacerbated by overlapping dietary niches among species (Schwartz‐Narbonne et al., 2019). Isotopic analyses suggest that, in response to changing environments, large herbivores had a high level of dietary flexibility and were capable of utilizing both C 3 and C 4 plants (Feranec, 2004; Widga et al, 2020), bison were able to shift their dietary niche to low δ 15 N food sources and caribou had an adaptable diet with varying consumptions of browsing and lichen, while mammoth had a consistently high δ 15 N value in the diet (Rabanus‐Wallace et al., 2017; Schwartz‐Narbonne et al., 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caught in a bottleneck: Habitat loss for woolly mammoths in central North America and the ice‐free corridor during the last deglaciation

Wang

Widga

Graham

et al. 2020

Global Ecol. Biogeogr.

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AimIdentifying how climate change, habitat loss, and corridors interact to influence species survival or extinction is critical to understanding macro‐scale biodiversity dynamics under changing environments. In North America, the ice‐free corridor was the only major pathway for northward migration by megafaunal species during the last deglaciation. However, the timing and interplay among the late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions, climate change, habitat structure, and the opening and reforestation of the ice‐free corridor have been unclear.LocationNorth America.Time period15–10 ka.Major taxa studiedWoolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius).MethodsFor central North America and the ice‐free corridor between 15 and 10 ka, we used a series of models and continental‐scale datasets to reconstruct habitat characteristics and assess habitat suitability. The models and datasets include biophysical and statistical niche models Niche Mapper and Maxent, downscaled climate simulations from CCSM3 SynTraCE, LPJ‐GUESS simulations of net primary productivity (NPP) and woody cover, and woody cover based upon fossil pollen from Neotoma.ResultsThe ice‐free corridor may have been of limited suitability for traversal by mammoths and other grazers due to persistently low productivity by herbaceous plants and quick reforestation after opening 14 ka. Simultaneously, rapid reforestation and decreased forage productivity may have led to declining habitat suitability in central North America. This was possibly amplified by a positive feedback loop driven by reduced herbivory pressures, as mammoth population decline led to the further loss of open habitat.Main conclusionsDeclining habitat availability south of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and limited habitat availability in the ice‐free corridor were contributing factors in North American extinctions of woolly mammoths and other large grazers that likely operated synergistically with anthropogenic pressures. The role of habitat loss and attenuated corridor suitability for the woolly mammoth extinction reinforce the critical importance of protected habitat connectivity during changing climates, particularly for large vertebrates.

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Reframing the mammoth steppe: Insights from analysis of isotopic niches

Cited by 45 publications

References 287 publications

Habitats of Pleistocene megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna remains

Habitats of Pleistocene megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna remains

Life histories and niche dynamics in late Quaternary proboscideans from Midwestern North America: evidence from stable isotope analyses

Caught in a bottleneck: Habitat loss for woolly mammoths in central North America and the ice‐free corridor during the last deglaciation

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