Simulations of human migration into North America are more sensitive to demography than choice of palaeoclimate model
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Simulations of human migration into North America are more sensitive to demography than choice of palaeoclimate model. / Pilowsky, Julia A.; Manica, Andrea; Brown, Stuart; Rahbek, Carsten; Fordham, Damien A.
In: Ecological Modelling, Vol. 473, 110115, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Simulations of human migration into North America are more sensitive to demography than choice of palaeoclimate model
AU - Pilowsky, Julia A.
AU - Manica, Andrea
AU - Brown, Stuart
AU - Rahbek, Carsten
AU - Fordham, Damien A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Reconstructions of the spatiotemporal dynamics of human dispersal away from evolutionary origins in Africa are important for determining the ecological consequences of the arrival of anatomically modern humans in naïve landscapes and interpreting inferences from ancient genomes on indigenous population history. While efforts have been made to independently validate these projections against the archaeological record and contemporary measures of genetic diversity, there has been no comprehensive assessment of how parameter values and choice of palaeoclimate model affect projections of early human migration. We simulated human migration into North America with a process-explicit migration model using simulated palaeoclimate data from two different atmosphere-ocean general circulation models and did a sensitivity analysis on the outputs using a machine learning algorithm. We found that simulated human migration into North America was more sensitive to uncertainty in demographic parameters than choice of atmosphere-ocean general circulation model used for simulating climate-human interactions. Our findings indicate that the accuracy of process-explicit human migration models will be improved with further research on the population dynamics of ancient humans, and that uncertainties in model parameters must be considered in estimates of the timing and rate of human colonisation and their consequence on biodiversity.
AB - Reconstructions of the spatiotemporal dynamics of human dispersal away from evolutionary origins in Africa are important for determining the ecological consequences of the arrival of anatomically modern humans in naïve landscapes and interpreting inferences from ancient genomes on indigenous population history. While efforts have been made to independently validate these projections against the archaeological record and contemporary measures of genetic diversity, there has been no comprehensive assessment of how parameter values and choice of palaeoclimate model affect projections of early human migration. We simulated human migration into North America with a process-explicit migration model using simulated palaeoclimate data from two different atmosphere-ocean general circulation models and did a sensitivity analysis on the outputs using a machine learning algorithm. We found that simulated human migration into North America was more sensitive to uncertainty in demographic parameters than choice of atmosphere-ocean general circulation model used for simulating climate-human interactions. Our findings indicate that the accuracy of process-explicit human migration models will be improved with further research on the population dynamics of ancient humans, and that uncertainties in model parameters must be considered in estimates of the timing and rate of human colonisation and their consequence on biodiversity.
KW - Human migration
KW - Macroecology
KW - Paleoecology
KW - Process-explicit model
KW - Sensitivity analysis
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110115
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110115
M3 - Letter
AN - SCOPUS:85137758770
VL - 473
JO - Ecological Modelling
JF - Ecological Modelling
SN - 0304-3800
M1 - 110115
ER -
ID: 321541934