| Small mammal diversity loss in response to late-Pleistocene climatic change. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20495547 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Communities have been shaped in numerous ways by past climatic change; this process continues today. At the end of the Pleistocene epoch about 11,700 years ago, North American communities were substantially altered by the interplay of two events. The climate shifted from the cold, arid Last Glacial Maximum to the warm, mesic Holocene interglacial, causing many mammal species to shift their geographic distributions substantially. Populations were further stressed as humans arrived on the continent. The resulting megafaunal extinction event, in which 70 of the roughly 220 largest mammals in North America (32%) became extinct, has received much attention. However, responses of small mammals to events at the end of the Pleistocene have been much less studied, despite the sensitivity of these animals to current and future environmental change. Here we examine community changes in small mammals in northern California during the last 'natural' global warming event at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and show that even though no small mammals in the local community became extinct, species losses and gains, combined with changes in abundance, caused declines in both the evenness and richness of communities. Modern mammalian communities are thus depauperate not only as a result of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene but also because of diversity loss among small mammals. Our results suggest that across future landscapes there will be some unanticipated effects of global change on diversity: restructuring of small mammal communities, significant loss of richness, and perhaps the rising dominance of native 'weedy' species. |
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Authors:
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Jessica L Blois; Jenny L McGuire; Elizabeth A Hadly |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Date: 2010-05-23 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Nature Volume: 465 ISSN: 1476-4687 ISO Abbreviation: Nature Publication Date: 2010 Jun |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-06-10 Completed Date: 2010-07-22 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0410462 Medline TA: Nature Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 771-4 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. blois@wisc.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Biodiversity* California Evolution Extinction, Biological* Fossils Global Warming* History, Ancient Human Activities Mammals / classification* Population Dynamics Selection, Genetic |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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