Pleistocene megafauna from eastern Beringia: Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope and radiocarbon records

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Volumn 261, Issue 1-2, 2008, Pages 30-46

  Fox Dobbs, Kena ^a,b   Leonard, Jennifer A ^a,c   Koch, Paul L ^b  

^a DEPARTMENT OF PALEOBIOLOGY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c UPPSALA UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

Canis lupus; Carnivore guild; Equus lambei; Homotherium; Paleodietary reconstruction; Paleoecology; Panthera atrox

Indexed keywords

CARBON ISOTOPE; DIET; ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE; FOSSIL RECORD; GEOCHRONOLOGY; HERB; INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTION; MAMMAL; NICHE BREADTH; NICHE OVERLAP; NITROGEN ISOTOPE; PALEOECOLOGY; PALEOENVIRONMENT; PLEISTOCENE; RADIOCARBON DATING; RELATIVE ABUNDANCE; STABLE ISOTOPE;

ALASKA; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

BISON; BOS GRUNNIENS; BRYOPHYTA; CANIDAE; CANIS FAMILIARIS; CANIS LUPUS; CAREX; CERVIDAE; EQUIDAE; EQUUS LAMBEI; FELIDAE; FUNGI; HOMOTHERIUM; MAMMALIA; OVIBOS MOSCHATUS MOSCHATUS; PANTHERA; PANTHERA ATROX; POACEAE; RANGIFER TARANDUS; URSIDAE;

EID: 41549150362     PISSN: 00310182     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.12.011     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. Ager T.A., and Brubaker L. Quaternary palynology and vegetational history of Alaska. In: Bryant V.M., and Holloway R.G. (Eds). Pollen Records of Late Quaternary North American sediments (1985), American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Dallas, TX 353-384
2. Alley R.B. Ice-core evidence of abrupt climate changes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97 (2000) 1331-1334
3. Ambrose S.H. Preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 17 (1990) 431-451
4. Anderson P.M., and Brubaker L.B. Vegetation history of northcentral Alaska: a mapped summary of Late-Quaternary pollen data. Quaternary Science Reviews 13 (1994) 71-92
5. Anderson P.M., and Lozhkin A.V. The Stage 3 interstadial complex (Karginskii/middle Wisconsinan interval) of Beringia: variations in paleoenvironments and implications for paleoclimatic interpretations. Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 93-125
6. Anderson P.M., Bartlein P.J., Brubaker L.B., Gajewski K., and Ritchie J.C. Modern analogues of late-Quaternary pollen spectra from the western interior of North America. Journal of Biogeography 16 (1989) 273-291
7. 2 of horses fed an isotopically varied diet. Oecologia 139 (2004) 11-22
8. Barber V.A., and Finney B.P. Late Quaternary paleoclimatic reconstructions for interior Alaska based on paleolake-level data and hydrologic models. Journal of Paleolimnology 24 (2000) 29-41
9. Barnes I., Matheus P., Shapiro B., Jensen D., and Cooper A. Dynamics of Pleistocene population extinctions in Beringian brown bears. Science 295 (2002) 2267-2270
10. Barnes I., Shapiro B., Lister A., Kuznetsova T., Sher A., Guthrie D., and Thomas M.G. Genetic structure and extinction of the Woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius. Current Biology 17 (2007) 1072-1075
11. Barnosky A.D., Koch P.L., Feranec R.S., Wing S.L., and Shabel A.B. Assessing the causes of late Pleistocene extinctions on the continents. Science 306 (2004) 70-75
12. Bartlein P.J., Anderson P.M., Anderson K.H., Edwards M.E., Thompson R.S., Webb R.S., Webb III T., and Whitlock C. Paleoclimate simulations for North America for the past 21,000 years: features of the simulated climate and comparisons with paleoenvironmental data. Quaternary Science Reviews 17 (1998) 549-585
13. Ben-David M., Shochat E., and Adams L. Utility of stable isotope analysis in studying foraging ecology of herbivores: examples from moose and caribou. Alces 37 (2001) 421-434
14. Berger J. Horses of the Great Basin (1986), University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois
15. Bigelow N.H., and Edwards M.E. A 14,000-yr paleoenvironmental record from Windmill Lake, central Alaska: late-glacial and Holocene vegetation in the Alaska Range. Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 203-215
16. Bigelow N.H., Brubaker L.B., Edwards M.E., Harrison S.P., et al. Climate change and Arctic ecosystems I. Vegetation changes north of 55degN between the last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene and present. Journal of Geophysical Research 108 (2003) 11-25
17. Bocherens H., and Drucker D. Trophic level isotopic enrichment of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen: case studies from recent and ancient terrestrial ecosystems. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13 (2003) 46-53
18. 18O) to the paleoecology of mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius). Historical Biology 7 (1994) 187-202
19. 15N) in collagen and soft tissues from Pleistocene mammals from Yakutia: implications for the palaeobiology of the Mammoth Steppe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126 (1996) 31-44
20. Bocherens H., Billiou D., and Mariotti A. Palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary implications of isotopic biogeochemistry of last interglacial Neanderthal and mammal bones in Scladina Cave (Belgium). Journal of Archaeological Science 26 (1999) 599-607
21. Bocherens H., Drucker D.G., Billiou D., Patou-Mathis M., and Vandermeersch B. Isotopic evidence for diet and subsistence pattern of the Saint-Césaire I Neanderthal: review and use of a multi-source mixing model. Journal of Human Evolution 49 (2005) 71-87
22. Brigham-Grette J., Lozhkin A.V., Anderson P.M., and Glushkova O.Y. Paleoenvironmental Conditions in Western Beringia before and during the Last Glacial Maximum. In: Madsen D.B. (Ed). Entering America: Entering America: Northeast Asia and Beringia Before the Last Glacial Maximum (2004), University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah 29-61
23. Brown T.A., Nelson D.E., Vogel J.S., and Southon J.R. Improved collagen extraction by modified Longin method. Radiocarbon 30 (1988) 171-177
24. Brubaker L.B., Anderson P.M., Edwards M.E., and Lozhkin A.V. Beringia as a glacial refugium for boreal trees and shrubs: new perspectives from mapped pollen data. Journal of Biogeography 32 (2005) 833-848
25. Cerling T.E., Harris J.M., MacFadden B.J., Leakey M.G., Quade J., Eisenmann V., and Erleringer J.R. Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. Nature 389 (1997) 153-158
26. Coltrain J.B., Harris J.M., Cerling T.E., Ehleringer J.R., Dearing M., Ward J., and Allen J. Rancho La Brea stable isotope biogeochemistry and its implications for the palaeoecology of late Pleistocene coastal California. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 205 (2004) 199-219
27. Coltrain J.B., Hayes M.G., and O'Rourke D.H. Sealing, whaling, and caribou: the skeletal isotope chemistry of Eastern Arctic foragers. Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 39-57
28. Coppedge B.R., Leslie Jr. D.M., and Shaw J.H. Botanical composition of bison on tallgrass prairie in Oklahoma. Journal of Range Management 51 (1998) 379-382
29. Cormie A.B., and Schwarcz H.P. Stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon of North American white-tailed deer and implications for paleodietary and other food web studies. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 107 (1994) 227-241
30. Drucker D., Bocherens H., Bridault A., and Billiou D. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of red deer (Cervus elaphus) collagen as a tool for tracking palaeoenvironmental change during Lateglacial and Early Holocene in northern Jura (France). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 195 (2003) 375-388
31. Drucker D.G., Bocherens H., and Billiou D. Evidence for shifting environmental conditions in Southwestern France from 33,000 to 15,000 years ago derived from carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 natural abundances in collagen of large herbivores. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 216 (2003) 163-173
32. Drummond A.J., Rambaut A., Shapiro B., and Pybus O.G. Bayesian coalescent inference of past population dynamics from molecular sequences. Molecular Biology and Evolution 22 (2005) 1185-1192
33. Edwards M.E., and Barker E.D. Climate and vegetation in northeastern Alaska 18,000 yr B.P.-Present. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatolatology, Palaeoecology 109 (1994) 127-135
34. Edwards M.E., Mock C.J., Finney B.P., Barber V.A., and Bartlein P.J. Modern-climate analogues for paleoclimatic variations in eastern interior Alaska during the past 14,000 years: atmospheric-circulation controls of regional temperature and moisture responses. Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 189-202
35. 12C Fractionation and its utility in terrestrial plant studies. In: Coleman D.C., and Fry B. (Eds). Carbon Isotope Techniques (1991), Academic Press Inc 187-200
36. Ehleringer J.R., and Monson R.K. Evolutionary and ecological aspects of photosynthetic pathway variation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24 (1993) 411-439
37. Elias S.A. Beringian paleoecology: results from the 1997 workshop. Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 7-13
38. Fizet M., Mariotti A., Bocherens H., Lange-Badre B., Vandermeesch B., Borel J.B., and Bellon G. Effect of diet, physiology and climate on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of collagen in a late Pleistocene anthropic paleoecosystem: Marillac, Charente, France. Journal of Archaeological Science 22 (1995) 67-79
39. Fox-Dobbs K., Stidham T.A., Bowen G.J., Emslie S.D., and Koch P.L. Dietary controls on extinction versus survival among avian megafauna in the late Pleistocene. Geology 34 (2006) 685-688
40. Fox-Dobbs K., Bump J.K., Peterson R.O., Fox D.L., and Koch P.L. Carnivore-specific stable isotope variables and variation in the foraging ecology of past and present wolf populations: case studies from Isle Royale, Minnesota and La Brea. Canadian Journal of Zoology 85 (2007) 458-471
41. Graham R.W., and Lundelius E.L. Coevolutionary disequilibrium and Pleistocene extinctions. In: Martin P.S., and Klein R.G. (Eds). Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution (1984), The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona 223-249
42. Gröcke D.R., Bocherens H., and Mariotti A. Annual rainfall and nitrogen-isotope correlation in macropod collagen: applications as a paleoprecipitation indicator. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 160 (1997) 279-285
43. Guthrie R.D. Palaeoecology of the large-mammal community in interior Alaska during the late Pleistocene. American Midland Naturalist 70 (1968) 346-363
44. Guthrie R.D. Mosaics, allelochemics, and nutrients: an ecological theory of late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. In: Martin P.S., and Klein R.G. (Eds). Quaternary Extinctions (1984), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona 259-298
45. Guthrie R.D. Origin and causes of the mammoth steppe: a story of cloud cover, woolly mammal tooth pits, buckles, and inside-out Beringia. Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 549-574
46. Guthrie R.D. Rapid body size decline in Alaskan Pleistocene horses before extinction. Nature 426 (2003) 169-171
47. Guthrie R.D. New carbon dates link climatic change with human colonization and Pleistocene extinctions. Nature 44 (2006) 207-209
48. 15N) of ecosystem samples reflects measures of water availability. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 26 (1999) 185-199
49. 14N ratios of plants in South Africa and Namibia: relationship to climate and coastal/saline environments. Oecologia 74 (1987) 236-246
50. Heaton T.H.E., Vogel J.C., von la Chevallerie G., and Collett G. Climatic influence on the isotopic composition of bone nitrogen. Nature 322 (1986) 822-823
51. Hedges R.E.M., Stevens R.E., and Richards M.P. Bone as a stable isotope archive for local climatic information. Quaternary Science Reviews 23 (2004) 959-965
52. Higham T.F.G., Jacobi R.M., and Ramsey C.B. AMS radiocarbon dating of ancient bone using ultrafiltration. Radiocarbon 48 (2006) 179-195
53. Hilderbrand G.V., Farley S.D., Robbins C.T., Hanley T.A., Titus K., and Servheen C. Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74 (1996) 2080-2088
54. 15N) isotopes to infer trophic relationships among black and grizzly bears in the upper Columbia River basin, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78 (2000) 1332-1339
55. Hoppe K.A., Amundson R., Vavra M., McClaran M.P., and Anderson D.L. Isotopic analysis of tooth enamel carbonate from modern North American feral horses: implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatolatology, Palaeoecology 203 (2004) 299-311
56. Iacumin P., Nikolaev V., and Ramigni M. C and N stable isotope measurements on Eurasian fossil mammals, 40,000 to 10,000 years BP: herbivore physiologies and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatolatology, Palaeoecology 163 (2000) 33-47
57. Ihl C., and Klein D.R. Habitat and diet selection by muskoxen and reindeer in western Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 65 (2001) 964-972
58. Koch P.L. The isotopic ecology of Pleistocene proboscideans. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11 (1991) 40A
59. Koch P.L. Isotopic study of the biology of modern and fossil vertebrates. In: Lajtha K., and Michener B. (Eds). Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science (2007), Blackwell Scientific Publication, Boston, Massachusetts
60. Koch P.L., and Barnosky A.D. Late Quaternary extinctions: state of the debate. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 37 (2006) 215-250
61. Larter N.C., and Nagy J.A. Seasonal and annual variability in the quality of important forage plants on Banks Island, Canadian High Arctic. Applied Vegetation Science 4 (2001) 115-128
62. Leonard J.A., Wayne R.K., and Cooper A. Population genetics of Ice Age brown bears. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97 (2000) 1651-1654
63. Leonard J.A., Vila C., Fox-Dobbs K., Koch P.L., Wayne R.K., and Van Valkenburgh B. Cryptic extinction of Pleistocene Alaskan wolves: evidence from genetics, isotopes, and morphology. Current Biology 17 (2007) 1146-1150
64. Lozhkin A.V., Anderson P.M., Eisner W.R., Ravako L.G., Hopkins D.M., Brubaker L.B., Colinvaux P.A., and Miller M.C. Late quaternary lacustrine pollen records from Southwestern Beringia. Quaternary Research 39 (1993) 314-332
65. MacPhee R.D.E., Tikhonov A.N., Mol D., and Greenwood A.D. Late Quaternary loss of genetic diversity in muskox (Ovibos). BMC Evolutionary Biology 49 (2005) 1-13
66. Matheus P.E. Diet and co-ecology of Pleistocene short-faced bears and brown bears in eastern Beringia. Quaternary Research 44 (1995) 447-453
67. Matheus, P.E., 1997. Paleoecology and ecomorphology of the giant short-faced bear in eastern Beringia. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
68. 15N natural abundances and N use by tundra plants. Oecologia 107 (1996) 386-394
69. Phillips R.L., and Grantz A. Regional variations in provenance and abundance of ice-rafted clasts in Arctic Ocean sediments: implications for the configuration of late Quaternary oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the Arctic. Marine Geology 172 (2001) 91-115
70. Phillips D.L., and Gregg J.W. Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too many sources. Oecologia 136 (2003) 261-269
71. 14C dates on pristine corals" by R.G. Fairbanks, R.A. Mortlock, T.-C. Chiu, L. Cao, A. Kaplan, T.P. Guilderson, T.W. Fairbanks, A.L. Bloom, P.M. Grootes, and M.-J. Nadeau and "Extending the radiocarbon calibration beyond 26,000 years before present using fossil corals" by T.-C. Chiu, R.G. Fairbanks, R.A. Mortlock, and A.L. Bloom. Quaternary Science Reviews 25 (2006) 855-862
72. 15N values in fauna from northwestern Europe over the last 40,000 years. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatolatology, Palaeoecology 193 (2003) 261-267
73. Sealy J.C., Van Der Merwe N.J., Lee Thorpe J.A., and Lanham J.L. Nitrogen isotopic ecology in southern Africa: implications for environmental and dietary tracing. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 51 (1987) 2707-2717
74. Shapiro B., Drummond A.J., Rambaut A., Wilson M.C., Matheus P.E., Sher A.V., Pybus O.G., Gilbert M.T.P., Barnes I., Binladen J., Willersleve E., Hansen A.J., Baryshnikov G.F., Burns J.A., Davydov S., Driver J.C., Froese D.G., Harington C.R., Keddie G., Kosintsev P., Kunz M.L., Martin L.D., Stephenson R.O., Storer J., Tedford R., Zimov S., and Cooper A. Rise and fall of the Beringian steppe bison. Science 306 (2004) 1561-1565
75. Solounias N., Mihlbacher M., Rivals F., Blondel C., and Guthrie D. Evaluation of diet in mammoths and other late Pleistocene and early Holocene ungulates from Alaska. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24 (2004) 116A
76. 15N values from a controlled feeding study. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 13 (2003) 80-87
77. Stevens R.E., and Hedges R.E.M. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of Northwest European horse bone and tooth collagen, 40,000 BP-present. Quaternary Science Reviews 23 (2004) 977-991
78. 4 vegetation of southern Africa: patterns and implications. Global Change Biology 10 (2004) 350-358
79. Szepanski M.M., Ben-David M., and Van Ballenberghe V. Assessment of anadromous salmon resources in the diet of the Alexander Archipelago wolf using stable isotope analysis. Oecologia 120 (1999) 327-335
80. Walker D.A., Bockheim J.G., Chapin F.S., Eugster W., Nelson F.E., and Ping C.L. Calcium-rich tundra, wildlife and the "Mammoth Steppe". Quaternary Science Reviews 20 (2001) 149-163
81. Ward J.K., Harris J.M., Cerling T.E., Wiedenhoeft A., Lott M.J., Dearing M.D., Coltrain J.B., and Ehleringer J.R. Carbon starvation in glacial trees recovered from the La Brea tar pits, southern California. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (2005) 690-694
82. In: Wilson D.E., and Ruff S. (Eds). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals (1999), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
83. Wooller M.J., Zazula G., Edwards M., Froese D., Boone R., Parker C., and Bennett B. Stable carbon isotope compositions of Eastern Beringian grasses and sedges: investigating their potential as paleoenvironmental indicators. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 39 (2007) 318-331
84. Zazula G.D., Froese D.G., Schweger C.E., Mathewes R.W., Beaudoin A.B., Telka A.M., Harington C.R., and Westgate J.A. Ice age steppe vegetation in east Beringia. Nature 423 (2003) 603
85. 14C yr BP), Yukon Territory, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 26 (2007) 979-1003