A complete Holocene lake sediment ancient DNA record reveals long-standing high Arctic plant diversity hotspot in northern Svalbard
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A complete Holocene lake sediment ancient DNA record reveals long-standing high Arctic plant diversity hotspot in northern Svalbard. / Voldstad, Linn H.; Alsos, Inger G.; Farnsworth, Wesley R.; Heintzman, Peter D.; Hakansson, Lena; Kjellman, Sofia E.; Rouillard, Alexandra; Schomacker, Anders; Eidesen, Pernille B.
In: Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 234, 106207, 2020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A complete Holocene lake sediment ancient DNA record reveals long-standing high Arctic plant diversity hotspot in northern Svalbard
AU - Voldstad, Linn H.
AU - Alsos, Inger G.
AU - Farnsworth, Wesley R.
AU - Heintzman, Peter D.
AU - Hakansson, Lena
AU - Kjellman, Sofia E.
AU - Rouillard, Alexandra
AU - Schomacker, Anders
AU - Eidesen, Pernille B.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Arctic hotspots, local areas of high biodiversity, are potential key sites for conservation of Arctic biodiversity. However, there is a need for improved understanding of their long-term resilience. The Arctic hotspot of Ringhorndalen has the highest registered diversity of vascular plants in the Svalbard archipelago, including several remarkable and isolated plant populations located far north of their normal distribution range. Here we analyze a lake sediment core from Ringhorndalen for sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) and geochemical proxies to detect changes in local vegetation and climate. Half of the plant taxa appeared already before 10,600 cal. yr BP, indicating rapid colonization as the ice retreated. Thermophilous species had a reoccurring presence throughout the Holocene record, but stronger signal in the early than Late Holocene period. Thus, thermophilous Arctic plant species had broader distribution ranges during the Early Holocene thermal maximum c. 10,000 cal. yr BP than today. Most of these thermophilous species are currently not recorded in the catchment area of the studied lake, but occur locally in favourable areas further into the valley. For example, Empetrum nigrum was found in >40% of the sedaDNA samples, whereas its current distribution in Ringhorndalen is highly restricted and outside the catchment area of the lake. Our findings support the hypothesis of isolated relict populations in Ringhorndalen. The findings are also consistent with main Holocene climatic shifts in Svalbard identified by previous studies and indicate an early warm and species-rich postglacial period until c. 6500 cal. yr BP, followed by fluctuating cool and warm periods throughout the later Holocene. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
AB - Arctic hotspots, local areas of high biodiversity, are potential key sites for conservation of Arctic biodiversity. However, there is a need for improved understanding of their long-term resilience. The Arctic hotspot of Ringhorndalen has the highest registered diversity of vascular plants in the Svalbard archipelago, including several remarkable and isolated plant populations located far north of their normal distribution range. Here we analyze a lake sediment core from Ringhorndalen for sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) and geochemical proxies to detect changes in local vegetation and climate. Half of the plant taxa appeared already before 10,600 cal. yr BP, indicating rapid colonization as the ice retreated. Thermophilous species had a reoccurring presence throughout the Holocene record, but stronger signal in the early than Late Holocene period. Thus, thermophilous Arctic plant species had broader distribution ranges during the Early Holocene thermal maximum c. 10,000 cal. yr BP than today. Most of these thermophilous species are currently not recorded in the catchment area of the studied lake, but occur locally in favourable areas further into the valley. For example, Empetrum nigrum was found in >40% of the sedaDNA samples, whereas its current distribution in Ringhorndalen is highly restricted and outside the catchment area of the lake. Our findings support the hypothesis of isolated relict populations in Ringhorndalen. The findings are also consistent with main Holocene climatic shifts in Svalbard identified by previous studies and indicate an early warm and species-rich postglacial period until c. 6500 cal. yr BP, followed by fluctuating cool and warm periods throughout the later Holocene. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
KW - Ancient DNA
KW - SedaDNA
KW - Holocene
KW - Lake sediments
KW - Metabarcoding
KW - Svalbard
KW - Vegetation dynamics
KW - Biodiversity hotspot
KW - GLACIAL HISTORY
KW - CONSERVATION
KW - SPITSBERGEN
KW - VEGETATION
KW - AREA
KW - COLONIZATION
KW - ATLANTIC
KW - EDGEOYA
KW - NORWAY
KW - LAND
U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106207
DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106207
M3 - Journal article
VL - 234
JO - Quaternary Science Reviews
JF - Quaternary Science Reviews
SN - 0277-3791
M1 - 106207
ER -
ID: 245619669