TY - JOUR A1 - Andreev, Andrei A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Biskaborn, Boris A1 - Vyse, Stuart Andrew A1 - Courtin, Jérémy A1 - Böhmer, Thomas A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Kruse, Stefan A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Late Pleistocene to Holocene vegetation and climate changes in northwestern Chukotka (Far East Russia) deduced from lakes Ilirney and Rauchuagytgyn pollen records JF - Boreas : an international journal of quaternary research N2 - This paper presents two new pollen records and quantitative climate reconstructions from northern Chukotka documenting environmental changes over the last 27.9 ka. Open tundra- and steppe-like habitats dominated between 27.9 and 18.7 cal. ka BP. Betula and Alnus shrubs might have grown in sheltered microhabitats but disappeared after 18.7 cal. ka BP. Although the climate was rather harsh, local herb-dominated communities supported herbivores as is evident by the presence of coprophilous spores in the sediments. The increase in Salix and Cyperaceae similar to 16.1 cal. ka BP suggests climate amelioration. Shrub Betula appeared similar to 15.9 cal. ka BP, and became dominant after similar to 15.52 cal. ka BP, whilst typical steppe communities drastically reduced. Very high presence of Botryococcus in the Lateglacial sediments reflects widespread shallow habitats, probably due to lake level increase. Shrub Alnus became common after similar to 13 cal. ka BP reflecting further climate amelioration. Simultaneously, herb communities gradually decreased in the vegetation reaching a minimum similar to 11.8 cal. ka BP. A gradual decrease of algae remains suggests a reduction of shallow-water habitats. Shrubby and graminoid tundra was dominant similar to 11.8-11.1 cal. ka BP, later Salix stands significantly decreased. The forest-tundra ecotone established in the Early Holocene, shortly after 11.1 cal. ka BP. Low contents of green algae in the Early Holocene sediments likely reflect deeper aquatic conditions. The most favourable climate conditions were between similar to 10.6 and 7 cal. ka BP. Vegetation became similar to the modern after similar to 7 cal. ka BP but Pinus pumila came to the Ilirney area at about 1.2 cal. ka BP. It is important to emphasize that the study area provided refugia for Betula and Alnus during MIS 2. It is also notable that our records do not reflect evidence of Younger Dryas cooling, which is inconsistent with some regional environmental records but in good accordance with some others. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12521 SN - 0300-9483 SN - 1502-3885 VL - 50 IS - 3 SP - 652 EP - 670 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Huang, Sichao A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Courtin, Jeremy A1 - Andreev, Andrej A. A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila. A. A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Plant sedimentary ancient DNA from Far East Russia covering the last 28,000 years reveals different assembly rules in cold and warm climates JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Woody plants are expanding into the Arctic in response to the warming climate. The impact on arctic plant communities is not well understood due to the limited knowledge about plant assembly rules. Records of past plant diversity over long time series are rare. Here, we applied sedimentary ancient DNA metabarcoding targeting the P6 loop of the chloroplast trnL gene to a sediment record from Lake Ilirney (central Chukotka, Far Eastern Russia) covering the last 28 thousand years. Our results show that forb-rich steppe-tundra and dwarf-shrub tundra dominated during the cold climate before 14 ka, while deciduous erect-shrub tundra was abundant during the warm period since 14 ka. Larix invasion during the late Holocene substantially lagged behind the likely warmest period between 10 and 6 ka, where the vegetation biomass could be highest. We reveal highest richness during 28-23 ka and a second richness peak during 13-9 ka, with both periods being accompanied by low relative abundance of shrubs. During the cold period before 14 ka, rich plant assemblages were phylogenetically clustered, suggesting low genetic divergence in the assemblages despite the great number of species. This probably originates from environmental filtering along with niche differentiation due to limited resources under harsh environmental conditions. In contrast, during the warmer period after 14 ka, rich plant assemblages were phylogenetically overdispersed. This results from a high number of species which were found to harbor high genetic divergence, likely originating from an erratic recruitment process in the course of warming. Some of our evidence may be of relevance for inferring future arctic plant assembly rules and diversity changes. By analogy to the past, we expect a lagged response of tree invasion. Plant richness might overshoot in the short term; in the long-term, however, the ongoing expansion of deciduous shrubs will eventually result in a phylogenetically more diverse community. KW - sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) KW - metabarcoding KW - phylogenetic and taxonomic plant diversity KW - Arctic Russia KW - Siberia KW - holocene KW - glacial KW - treeline Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.763747 SN - 2296-701X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, Heike A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Kruse, Stefan A1 - Nürnberg, Dirk A1 - Tiedemann, Ralf A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Sedimentary ancient DNA from the subarctic North Pacific BT - How sea ice, salinity, and insolation dynamics have shaped diatom composition and richness over the past 20,000 years JF - Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology N2 - We traced diatom composition and diversity through time using diatom-derived sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) from eastern continental slope sediments off Kamchatka (North Pacific) by applying a short, diatom-specific marker on 63 samples in a DNA metabarcoding approach. The sequences were assigned to diatoms that are common in the area and characteristic of cold water. SedaDNA allowed us to observe shifts of potential lineages from species of the genus Chaetoceros that can be related to different climatic phases, suggesting that pre-adapted ecotypes might have played a role in the long-term success of species in areas of changing environmental conditions. These sedaDNA results complement our understanding of the long-term history of diatom assemblages and their general relationship to environmental conditions of the past. Sea-ice diatoms (Pauliella taeniata [Grunow] Round & Basson, Attheya septentrionalis [ostrup] R. M. Crawford and Nitzschia frigida [Grunow]) detected during the late glacial and Younger Dryas are in agreement with previous sea-ice reconstructions. A positive correlation between pennate diatom richness and the sea-ice proxy IP25 suggests that sea ice fosters pennate diatom richness, whereas a negative correlation with June insolation and temperature points to unfavorable conditions during the Holocene. A sharp increase in proportions of freshwater diatoms at similar to 11.1 cal kyr BP implies the influence of terrestrial runoff and coincides with the loss of 42% of diatom sequence variants. We assume that reduced salinity at this time stabilized vertical stratification which limited the replenishment of nutrients in the euphotic zone. KW - Bacillariophyceae KW - DNA metabarcoding KW - glacial / interglacial transition KW - northwestern Pacific KW - richness KW - sedaDNA Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA004091 SN - 2572-4517 SN - 2572-4525 VL - 36 IS - 4 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, NJ ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Courtin, Jérémy A1 - Andreev, Andrei A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Bala, Sarah A1 - Biskaborn, Boris A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Zimmermann, Heike A1 - Diekmann, Bernhard A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Vegetation changes in Southeastern Siberia during the late pleistocene and the holocene JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Relationships between climate, species composition, and species richness are of particular importance for understanding how boreal ecosystems will respond to ongoing climate change. This study aims to reconstruct changes in terrestrial vegetation composition and taxa richness during the glacial Late Pleistocene and the interglacial Holocene in the sparsely studied southeastern Yakutia (Siberia) by using pollen and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) records. Pollen and sedaDNA metabarcoding data using the trnL g and h markers were obtained from a sediment core from Lake Bolshoe Toko. Both proxies were used to reconstruct the vegetation composition, while metabarcoding data were also used to investigate changes in plant taxa richness. The combination of pollen and sedaDNA approaches allows a robust estimation of regional and local past terrestrial vegetation composition around Bolshoe Toko during the last similar to 35,000 years. Both proxies suggest that during the Late Pleistocene, southeastern Siberia was covered by open steppe-tundra dominated by graminoids and forbs with patches of shrubs, confirming that steppe-tundra extended far south in Siberia. Both proxies show disturbance at the transition between the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene suggesting a period with scarce vegetation, changes in the hydrochemical conditions in the lake, and in sedimentation rates. Both proxies document drastic changes in vegetation composition in the early Holocene with an increased number of trees and shrubs and the appearance of new tree taxa in the lake's vicinity. The sedaDNA method suggests that the Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra vegetation supported a higher number of terrestrial plant taxa than the forested Holocene. This could be explained, for example, by the "keystone herbivore" hypothesis, which suggests that Late Pleistocene megaherbivores were able to maintain a high plant diversity. This is discussed in the light of the data with the broadly accepted species-area hypothesis as steppe-tundra covered such an extensive area during the Late Pleistocene. KW - last glacial KW - Holocene KW - Lake Bolshoe Toko KW - paleoenvironments KW - sedimentary ancient DNA KW - metabarcoding KW - trnL KW - pollen Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.625096 SN - 2296-701X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER -