Ecosystem dynamics through the past 2000 years as revealed by fossil mammals from Lamar cave in Yellowstone National Park, USA

Autor:	Elizabeth Hadly Barnosky
Rok vydání:	1994
Předmět:	geography geography.geographical_feature_category biology National park Ecology Fauna biology.organism_classification Cave Mammal Ecosystem General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Microtus Relative species abundance Holocene Geology
Zdroj:	Historical Biology. 8:71-90
ISSN:	1029-2381 0891-2963
DOI:	10.1080/10292389409380472
Popis:	Lamar Cave, a late Holocene paleontological site in Yellowstone National Park, USA, has yielded 36 fossil mammal species from 10 stratigraphic units representing about 2000 years. The fossil fauna is similar to the mammals in the park today and affords a unique opportunity to investigate paleocommunity and ecosystem dynamics through time. Remains of an extralimital species in Yellowstone today, Microtus ochrogaster are found only in the oldest cave deposits, dated at 1695 ± 60 yr B.P. Disappearance of this species by about 1550 years ago marks evolution into the ecosystem that has persisted into the present and is recognizable by a fossil mammal assemblage that is virtually identical to the modern one. Relative abundance fluctuations in the mammal populations imply community resilience through the past 2000 years. Trends in relative abundances of small mammals, particularly the inverse relationship between Microtus and Spermophilus are interpreted as evidence of declining grass cover near Lamar Cave betwe...
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::8ba8531d8dd95f73401a90ca05c52c85 https://doi.org/10.1080/10292389409380472 Zobrazit plný text záznamu