Pre-Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation at Rancho La Brea linked to fire-driven state shift
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O`Keefe, F. Robin1
- DeSantis, Larisa2
- Kirby, Matthew3
- Takeuchi, Gary2
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Farrell, Aisling2
- Fuller, Benjamin4
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Meachen, Julie2
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Lindsey, Emily2
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Davis, Edward5
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Dunn, Regan2
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Weitzel, Elic6
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Waters, Michael7
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Binder, Wendy2
- Cohen, Joshua2
- MacDonald, Glen8
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Brenner-Coltrain, Joan9
- Southon, John10
- Martinez, Lisa8
- Ghezzo, Elena5
- 1. Marshall University
- 2. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- 3. California State University, Fullerton
- 4. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse
- 5. University of Oregon
- 6. University of Connecticut
- 7. Texas A&M University
- 8. University of California Los Angeles
- 9. University of Utah
- 10. University of California, Irvine
Description
The cause, or causes, of the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions have been difficult to establish, in part because poor spatiotemporal resolution in the fossil record prevents alignment of species disappearances with archeological and environmental datasets. We obtained 172 new radiocarbon dates on megafauna from Rancho La Brea, USA, spanning 15.6 to 10 thousand calendar years before present (ka). Seven species of extinct megafauna disappeared by 13 ka, before the onset of the Younger Dryas. Comparison with high-resolution regional datasets reveals these disappearances coincided with an ecological state shift that followed aridification and vegetation changes during the Bølling-Allerød. Time series modeling implicates large-scale fires caused by humans as the primary cause of the extirpations; the catalyst of this state shift appears to have been mounting human impacts in a drying, warming, and increasingly fire-prone ecosystem.
Notes
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1758117
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1757545
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1758116
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1758108
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1757236
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: EAR 1758110
Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: BCS 1759756
Funding provided by: REFIND
Award Number: H2020-MSCA-GF-785821