Nature Communications (Mar 2023)

Marine ecosystem shifts with deglacial sea-ice loss inferred from ancient DNA shotgun sequencing

  • Heike H. Zimmermann,
  • Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring,
  • Viktor Dinkel,
  • Lars Harms,
  • Luise Schulte,
  • Marc-Thorsten Hütt,
  • Dirk Nürnberg,
  • Ralf Tiedemann,
  • Ulrike Herzschuh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36845-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Ecosystem responses to prehistoric sea-ice loss are poorly known. Using marine sedimentary ancient DNA form the Bering Sea covering the last ~20,000 years, this study reveals a transition from a sea ice-adapted ecosystem, characterized by diatoms, copepods and codfish, to an ice-free Holocene with cyanobacteria, salmon and herring.