10.5061/DRYAD.SXKSN02ZS
Axmanová, Irena
0000-0001-9440-7976
Masaryk University
Robovský, Jan
0000-0001-8720-9314
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Tichý, Lubomír
Masaryk University
Danihelka, Jiri
Masaryk University
Troeva, Elena
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Protopopov, Albert
Russian Academy of Sciences
Chytrý, Milan
0000-0002-8122-3075
Masaryk University
Habitats of Pleistocene megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna
remains
Dryad
dataset
2019
megafauna habitats
mammoth steppe
Pleistocene vegetation
palaeobotany
vegetation reconstructions
Northern Siberia and Beringia
Czech Science Foundation
P504/11/0454
Czech Science Foundation
17-15168S
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
https://ror.org/02mh1ke95
АААА-А17-117020110056-0
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
https://ror.org/02mh1ke95
18-45-140007 р_а
2019-12-14T00:00:00Z
2019-12-14T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04940
334520 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
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.
Supporting data to the manuscript Axmanová et al.: Habitats of Pleistocene
megaherbivores reconstructed from the frozen fauna remains. Ecography. DOI
10.1111/ecog.04940 This database contains information on plant remains
identified in frozen megafauna individuals. We compiled plant records
reported from the Pleistocene and early Holocene frozen megaherbivores
found in northern Siberia, Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The
palaeobotanical data include pollen+spores, macrofossils and DNA analyses
reported from gastrointestinal tracts of frozen fauna or coprolites (for
more details see Table A2, the manuscript and Supporting information.
Plant nomenclature follows Cherepanov (1995) for vascular plants and
Ignatov & Afonina (1992) for bryophytes. All frozen animal samples
are sorted according to their radiocarbon dating, with the same IDs as in
the manuscript. Following Ukraintseva (2013) and Willerslev et al. (2014),
we used the division of individual samples into periods of pre-LGM (50–25
kyr BP; called Kargin in northern Siberia or Wisconsinian Interstadial in
North America), LGM (25–15 kyr BP; Sartan Ice Age/Late Wisconsinian) and
post-LGM (15 kyr BP – present; Late glacial and early Holocene). The taxa
of the palaeobotanical records were included in our analyses at three
identification levels, as species, genus and family. Higher taxa than
families were not considered. Following tables are included:
Palaebotanical-data-all: this table includes all available palaeobotanical
data published. If available, we included also proportional data
(percentages) and pollen data from the surrounding sediment, although
these were not included in our analyses. Pollen: Presence/absence data of
pollen and spores identified in individual frozen animals. Data used in
our analyses. Macrofossils: Presence/absence data of macrofossils reported
from individual frozen animals. Data used in our analyses.
Pollen-Macrofossils-DNA: Presence/absence data based on combined evidence
of pollen+spores, DNA and macrofossils. Data used in our analyses.
References Cherepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular Plants of Russia and Adjacent
Countries (within the Former USSR). – Mir i sem’ya-95, Sankt Petersburg
(in Russian). Ignatov, M. S. and Afonina, O. M. 1992. Check-list of mosses
of the former USSR. – Arctoa 1: 1–58. Ukraintseva, V. V. 2013. Mammoths
and the Environment. – Cambridge University Press. Willerslev, E. et al.
2014. Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet. –
Nature 506: 47–51.