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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/73029
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | The Aftermath of Megafaunal Extinction: Ecosystem Transformation in Pleistocene Australia |
Author: | Rule, S. Brook, B. Haberle, S. Turney, C. Kershaw, A. Johnson, C. |
Citation: | Science, 2012; 335(6075):1483-1486 |
Publisher: | Amer Assoc Advancement Science |
Issue Date: | 2012 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Susan Rule, Barry W. Brook, Simon G. Haberle, Chris S. M. Turney, A. Peter Kershaw, Christopher N. Johnson |
Abstract: | Giant vertebrates dominated many Pleistocene ecosystems. Many were herbivores, and their sudden extinction in prehistory could have had large ecological impacts. We used a high-resolution 130,000-year environmental record to help resolve the cause and reconstruct the ecological consequences of extinction of Australia’s megafauna. Our results suggest that human arrival rather than climate caused megafaunal extinction, which then triggered replacement of mixed rainforest by sclerophyll vegetation through a combination of direct effects on vegetation of relaxed herbivore pressure and increased fire in the landscape. This ecosystem shift was as large as any effect of climate change over the last glacial cycle, and indicates the magnitude of changes that may have followed megafaunal extinction elsewhere in the world. |
Keywords: | Animals Vertebrates Humans Ascomycota Plants Trees Charcoal Fires Ecosystem Biomass Population Dynamics Time Fossils Queensland Extinction, Biological Climate Change Herbivory |
Rights: | Copyright 2012 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; all rights reserved. |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.1214261 |
Grant ID: | ARC |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1214261 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 5 Earth and Environmental Sciences publications Environment Institute Leaders publications |
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