MELISSA E. KEMP, Ph.D

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

MELISSA E. KEMP, Ph.D MELISSA E. KEMP, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Integrative Biology 205 W. 24th St. Stop C0930, Austin, TX 78712 Office: PAT 102 [email protected] • 512-232-2075 • www.melissakemp.com EDUCATION 2015 Ph.D., Biological Sciences - Ecology and Evolution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 2010 B.A., Biology with Departmental Honors, Williams College, Williamstown, MA ACADEMIC POSITIONS 2018 – Present Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology. The University of Texas at Austin. 2015 – 2018 Postdoctoral Fellow, National Science Foundation and the Harvard University Center for the Environment, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Harvard University. FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS, AND GRANTS 2016 Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, Harvard University Putnam Expedition Grant, Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology 2015 Alfred Sherwood Romer Prize, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University Center for the Environment 2014 Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide Fellow, National Science Foundation 2013 Young Explorer's Grant, National Geographic Society DARE Doctoral Fellowship, Stanford University Grants-in-aid of Research, Sigma Xi III World Summit on Evolution Travel Award, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center 2012 Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation Lewis and Clark Field Scholar, American Philosophical Society Albert E. Wood Award, Society for Vertebrate Paleontology Student Travel Award, Paleontological Society Travel Award, Stanford University - Ecology and Evolution Group Jackson School of Geosciences Student Travel Award, Society for Vertebrate Paleontology 2011 NSF GRFP Honorable Mention 2010 Undergraduate Diversity Mentoring Program and Travel Award, Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution NSF GRFP Honorable Mention 2009 Travel Award, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2008 Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP) Scholar, HHMI Department of Biology 1960s Scholar, Williams College 2007 LifeBridge Scholar, LifeBridge Health 2006 Questbridge Scholar, Williams College PUBLICATIONS (* Denotes shared first authorship) PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES A.D. Barnosky, E.A. Hadly, P. Gonzalez, J. Head, D. Polly, A.M. Lawling, J. Eronen, and 34 others [alphabetical], including M.E. Kemp. 2017. Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems. Science 355: eaah4787. C. Bochaton* and M.E. Kemp*. 2016. Reconstructing the body sizes of Quaternary lizards Pholidoscelis (Fitzinger, 1843) and Anolis (Daudin, 1802) as case studies. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1239626 K.S. Solari, H.K. Frank, L.O. Frishkoff, J.L. Hsu, M.E. Kemp, A.M. Mychajliw, E.A. Hadly. 2016. Opportunity for some, extinction for others: the fate of species in the Anthropocene. Evolutionary Ecology Research 17: 787–813. M.E. Kemp and E.A. Hadly. 2016. Rocking earth’s biodiversity cradle: challenges, advances, and prospects for conservation paleontology in the tropics. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1179640. M.E. Kemp and E.A. Hadly. 2016. Early Holocene turnover in a lizard assemblage from Anguilla, British West Indies. Quaternary Research 85: 255–261. M.E. Kemp and E.A. Hadly. 2015. Extinction biases in Quaternary Caribbean lizards. Global Ecology and Biogeography 24: 1281–1289. A.M. Mychajliw, M.E. Kemp, and E.A. Hadly. 2015. Using the Anthropocene as a teaching, communication and community engagement opportunity. The Anthropocene Review 2 (3): 267–278. BOOK CHAPTERS A.M. Mychajliw*, M.E. Kemp*, S.E. Truebe, and E.A. Hadly. “Mapping the stories of global change: an exercise in science teaching and communication.” In STEM and GIS in Higher Education. D.J. Cowen (Ed). ESRI Press. https://esri.box.com/v/STEMGIS MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION (available upon request) X. Liu, X. Li, S. Wang, M.E. Kemp, J.R. Rohr, Y. Ling. Carbon emissions exacerbate invasion- driven biotic homogenization. Melissa E. Kemp Page 2 of 8 PRESENTATIONS INVITED TALKS M.E. Kemp. Islands in the Anthropocene: Insights from the past. Williams College – Center for Environmental Studies 50th Anniversary. Williamstown, Massachusetts. November 2017. M.E. Kemp. Fossil lizards tell tales: Resurrecting the past to forecast the future. University of Maine – School of Biology and Ecology Departmental Seminar. Orono, Maine. February 2017. M.E. Kemp. Fossil lizards tell tales: Resurrecting the past to forecast the future. University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez – Biology Departmental Seminar. Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. January 2017. M.E. Kemp. Fossil lizards tell tales: Resurrecting the past to forecast the future. University of Missouri–Columbia EEB Seminar. Columbia, Missouri. September 2016. M.E. Kemp. The other side of the diversification coin: extinction on islands, and what the fossil record tells us. Harvard Museum of Natural History. Cambridge, Massachusetts. March 2016. M.E. Kemp. Community assembly (and disassembly) dynamics as revealed by the fossil record. University of Michigan Early Career Scientist Symposium. Ann Arbor, Michigan. March 2016. M.E. Kemp. Designing Nature: Islands. UC Berkeley Global Change Biology Center: Conservation Paleobiology Symposium. Berkeley, California. September 2015. ORAL PRESENTATIONS († Denotes presenter) M.E. Kemp†. In the shadows of mice and men: extinction, colonization, and continuity of the Caribbean lizard fauna. Joint Meeting of the Canadian and American Quaternary Associations. Ottawa, Canada. July 2018. M.E. Kemp†. Paleodiversity of a newly excavated cave site in Puerto Rico. Evidence of Extinction and Continuity. Evolution. Portland, Oregon. June 2017. M.E. Kemp† C. Bochaton. Out with the old and in with the new:a new set of body size estimation equations for Anolis and their implications for macroevolution. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Salt Lake City, Utah. October 2016. M.E. Kemp†. Extinction biases and their ramifications on Caribbean lizard communities. Evolution. Austin, Texas. June 2016. M.E. Kemp†. Conservation Paleobiology as the lens for viewing the future: Caribbean lizards as a case study. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Dallas, Texas. October 2015. M.E. Kemp†. Quaternary extinction-colonization dynamics in insular lizards reveal patterns of selectivity and increasing community heterogeneity. Ecological Society of America. Baltimore, Maryland. August 2015. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Selectivity and heterogeneity of extinction in Caribbean lizard communities. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Berlin, Germany. November 2014. Melissa E. Kemp Page 3 of 8 M.E. Kemp, C. Bochaton†, S. Bailon, S. Grouard, I. Ineich, A. Tresset. Evaluating the interplay between human colonization, extinction, and body size on insular squamates: the Guadeloupean archipelago as a case study. International Conference of Archaeozoology. Mendoza, Argentina. September 2014. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Size-biased extinction exhibited by Quaternary Caribbean lizards. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Los Angeles, California. October 2013. M.E. Kemp†. What do genes from fossils tell us? An integrated approach to elucidating the evolutionary history of Caribbean faunal assemblages. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris, France. June 2013. M.E. Kemp†. What do genes from fossils tell us? An integrated approach to elucidating the evolutionary history of Caribbean faunal assemblages. Network for Neotropical Biogeography. Miami, Florida. January 2013. M.E. Kemp† and P.H. Barber. Population genetics of Amphiprion clarkii in the Coral Triangle. Diversity Project Research Symposium. Denpasar, Indonesia. August 2009. M.E. Kemp†, B. Cole, J. Chory. Genetic and phenotypic responses to shade in plants. University of California San Diego Summer Research Conference. La Jolla, California. August 2008. POSTER PRESENTATIONS († Denotes presenter) S.G. Scarpetta, M.E. Kemp†, and E.A. Hadly. Ancient DNA and the role of island fragmentation in divergence of lizards of the genus Ameiva. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, Los Angeles, California. October 2013. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Using the Quaternary fossil record to understand the spatiotemporal richness of Caribbean lizard communities. III World Summit on Evolution, San Cristóbal, Ecuador. June 2013. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Using the Quaternary fossil record to understand the spatiotemporal richness of Caribbean lizard communities. International Biogeography Society, Miami, Florida. January 2013. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Is modal body size an evolutionary attractor? Anolis as a case study. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, Raleigh, North Carolina. October 2012. M.E. Kemp† and E.A. Hadly. Holocene loss of lagomorph species richness in the Great Basin of North America. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, Las Vegas, Nevada. November 2011. M.E. Kemp† and D.C. Smith. Distance along shore, not habitat, constrains gene flow in the boreal chorus frog: A study of spatial and temporal constraints to gene flow. Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, Lyon, France. July 2010. M.E. Kemp† and D.C. Smith. Temporal and spatial constraints to gene flow in the boreal chorus frog. Williams College Department of Biology. Williamstown, Massachusetts. May 2010. M.E. Kemp† and P.H. Barber. Population genetics of Amphiprion clarkii in the Coral Triangle. Annual Biomedical
Recommended publications
  • Climatic Events During the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the Upper Parana River: Correlation with NE Argentina and South-Central Brazil Joseh C
    Quaternary International 72 (2000) 73}85 Climatic events during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the Upper Parana River: Correlation with NE Argentina and South-Central Brazil JoseH C. Stevaux* Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - Instituto de GeocieL ncias - CECO, Universidade Estadual de Maringa& - Geography Department, 87020-900 Maringa& ,PR} Brazil Abstract Most Quaternary studies in Brazil are restricted to the Atlantic Coast and are mainly based on coastal morphology and sea level changes, whereas research on inland areas is largely unexplored. The study area lies along the ParanaH River, state of ParanaH , Brazil, at 223 43S latitude and 533 10W longitude, where the river is as yet undammed. Paleoclimatological data were obtained from 10 vibro cores and 15 motor auger holes. Sedimentological and pollen analyses plus TL and C dating were used to establish the following evolutionary history of Late Pleistocene and Holocene climates: First drier episode ?40,000}8000 BP First wetter episode 8000}3500 BP Second drier episode 3500}1500 BP Second (present) wet episode 1500 BP}Present Climatic intervals are in agreement with prior studies made in southern Brazil and in northeastern Argentina. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction the excavation of Sete Quedas Falls on the ParanaH River (today the site of the Itaipu dam). Barthelness (1960, Geomorphological and paleoclimatological studies of 1961) de"ned a regional surface in the Guaira area de- the Upper ParanaH River Basin are scarce and regional in veloped at the end of the Pleistocene (Guaira Surface) nature. King (1956, pp. 157}159) de"ned "ve geomor- and correlated it with the Velhas Cycle.
    [Show full text]
  • Uma Perspectiva Macroecológica Sobre O Risco De Extinção Em Mamíferos
    Universidade Federal de Goiás Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Evolução Uma Perspectiva Macroecológica sobre o Risco de Extinção em Mamíferos VINÍCIUS SILVA REIS Goiânia 2019 VINÍCIUS SILVA REIS Uma Perspectiva Macroecológica sobre o Risco de Extinção em Mamíferos Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Evolução do Departamento de Ecologia do Instituto de Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal de Goiás como requisito parcial para a obtenção do título de Doutor em Ecologia e Evolução. Orientador: Profº Drº Matheus de Souza Lima- Ribeiro Co-orientadora: Profª Drª Levi Carina Terribile Goiânia 2019 DEDI CATÓRIA Ao meu pai Wilson e à minha mãe Iris por sempre acreditarem em mim. “Esper o que próxima vez que eu te veja, você s eja um novo homem com uma vasta gama de novas experiências e aventuras. Não he site, nem se permita dar desculpas. Apenas vá e faça. Vá e faça. Você ficará muito, muito feliz por ter feito”. Trecho da carta escrita por Christopher McCandless a Ron Franz contida em Into the Wild de Jon Krakauer (Livre tradução) . AGRADECIMENTOS Eis que a aventura do doutoramento esteve bem longe de ser um caminho solitário. Não poderia ter sido um caminho tão feliz se eu não tivesse encontrado pessoas que me ensinaram desde método científico até como se bebe cerveja de verdade. São aos que estiveram comigo desde sempre, aos que permaneceram comigo e às novas amizades que eu construí quando me mudei pra Goiás que quero agradecer por terem me apoiado no nascimento desta tese: À minha família, em especial meu pai Wilson, minha mãe Iris e minha irmã Flora, por me apoiarem e me incentivarem em cada conquista diária.
    [Show full text]
  • The Geologic Time Scale Is the Eon
    Exploring Geologic Time Poster Illustrated Teacher's Guide #35-1145 Paper #35-1146 Laminated Background Geologic Time Scale Basics The history of the Earth covers a vast expanse of time, so scientists divide it into smaller sections that are associ- ated with particular events that have occurred in the past.The approximate time range of each time span is shown on the poster.The largest time span of the geologic time scale is the eon. It is an indefinitely long period of time that contains at least two eras. Geologic time is divided into two eons.The more ancient eon is called the Precambrian, and the more recent is the Phanerozoic. Each eon is subdivided into smaller spans called eras.The Precambrian eon is divided from most ancient into the Hadean era, Archean era, and Proterozoic era. See Figure 1. Precambrian Eon Proterozoic Era 2500 - 550 million years ago Archaean Era 3800 - 2500 million years ago Hadean Era 4600 - 3800 million years ago Figure 1. Eras of the Precambrian Eon Single-celled and simple multicelled organisms first developed during the Precambrian eon. There are many fos- sils from this time because the sea-dwelling creatures were trapped in sediments and preserved. The Phanerozoic eon is subdivided into three eras – the Paleozoic era, Mesozoic era, and Cenozoic era. An era is often divided into several smaller time spans called periods. For example, the Paleozoic era is divided into the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous,and Permian periods. Paleozoic Era Permian Period 300 - 250 million years ago Carboniferous Period 350 - 300 million years ago Devonian Period 400 - 350 million years ago Silurian Period 450 - 400 million years ago Ordovician Period 500 - 450 million years ago Cambrian Period 550 - 500 million years ago Figure 2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Giant Sea Mammal That Went Extinct in Less Than Three Decades
    The Giant Sea Mammal That Went Extinct in Less Than Three Decades The quick disappearance of the 30-foot animal helped to usher in the modern science of human-caused extinctions. JACOB MIKANOWSKI, THE ATLANTIC 4/19/17 HTTPS://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/SCIENCE/ARCHIVE/2017/04/PLEIST OSEACOW/522831/ The Pleistocene, the geologic era immediately preceding our own, was an age of giants. North America was home to mastodons and saber-tooth cats; mammoths and wooly rhinos roamed Eurasia; giant lizards and bear-sized wombats strode across the Australian outback. Most of these giants died at the by the end of the last Ice Age, some 14,000 years ago. Whether this wave of extinctions was caused by climate change, overhunting by humans, or some combination of both remains a subject of intense debate among scientists. Complicating the picture, though, is the fact that a few Pleistocene giants survived the Quaternary extinction event and nearly made it intact to the present. Most of these survivor species found refuge on islands. Giant sloths were still living on Cuba 6,000 years ago, long after their relatives on the mainland had died out. The last wooly mammoths died out just 4,000 years ago. They lived in a small herd on Wrangel Island north of the Bering Strait between the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas. Two-thousand years ago, gorilla-sized lemurs were still living on Madagascar. A thousand years ago, 12-foot-tall moa birds were still foraging in the forests of New Zealand. Unlike the other long-lived megafauna, Steller’s sea cows, one of the last of the Pleistocene survivors to die out, found their refuge in a remote scrape of the ocean instead of on land.
    [Show full text]
  • Late Quaternary Extinction of Ungulates in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Reductionist's Approach
    Late Quaternary Extinction of Ungulates in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Reductionist's Approach Joris Peters Ins/itu/ für Palaeoanatomie, Domestikationsforschung und Geschichte der Tiermedizin, Universität München. Feldmochinger Strasse 7, D-80992 München, Germany AchilIes Gautier Laboratorium VDor Pa/eonlo/agie, Seclie Kwartairpaleo1ltologie en Archeozoölogie, Universiteit Gent, Krijgs/aon 2811S8, B-9000 Gent, Belgium James S. Brink National Museum, P. 0. Box 266. Bloemfontein 9300. Republic of South Africa Wim Haenen Instituut voor Gezandheidsecologie, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Capucijnenvoer 35, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium (Received 24 January 1992, revised manuscrip/ accepted 6 November 1992) Comparative osteomorphology and sta ti st ical analysis cf postcranial limb bone measurements cf modern African wildebeest (Collnochaetes), eland (Taura/ragus) and Africa n buffala (Sy" cer"s) have heen applied to reassess the systematic affiliations between these bovids and related extinct Pleistocene forms. The fossil sam pies come from the sites of Elandsfontein (Cape Province) .nd Flarisb.d (Orange Free State) in South Afrie • . On the basis of differenees in skull morphology and size of the appendicular skeleton between fossil and modern blaek wildebeest (ConlJochaeus gnou). the subspecies name anliquus, proposed earlier to designate the Pleistoeene form, ean be retained. The same taxonomie level is accepted for the large Pleistocene e1and, whieh could be named Taurolragus oryx antiquus. The long horned or giant buffa1o, Pelorovis antiquus, can be inc1uded in the polymorphous Syncerus caffer stock and could therefore be called Syncerus caffer antiquus. The ecology of Pleistocene and modern Connochaetes, Taurolragus and Syncerus is discussed. A relationship between herbivore body size and c1imate, as Bergmann's Rule predicts, could not be demonstrated.
    [Show full text]
  • Straight-Tusked Elephant (Palaeoloxodon Antiquus) and Other Megafauna in Europe
    The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001 The Late Quaternary extinction of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) and other megafauna in Europe A.J. Stuart, A.M. Lister Department of Biology, University College, London, UK [email protected] We are engaged in a research project (funded at present, it is apparent that these range changes by the Natural Environment Research Council - were not the same for each species; for example NERC) on megafaunal extinctions throughout the “last stands” of Mammuthus primigenius, Europe within the period ca. 50,000 to 9000 14C Megaloceros giganteus and Palaeoloxodon years BP. The work involves a survey of strati- antiquus appear to have been made in very dif- graphic information and available 14C dates, and ferent regions of Europe. Tracking these changes also sampling crucial material for a major involves firstly gathering data from the literature programme of AMS 14C dating. Both of the and from colleagues in each region. By these elephant species present in the European Late means we are building up an approximate pic- Pleistocene: Mammuthus primigenius and ture and specifying the likely latest material of Palaeoloxodon antiquus are included in the our target species for each region. In order to project. obtain a much more accurate database, we are Our target species include most of those that sampling the putatively latest material and sub- became extinct, or regionally extinct, after mitting it for 14C dating. ca. 15,000 BP: woolly mammoth Mammuthus Late Quaternary extinctions have been vari- primigenius, woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta ously attributed to overkill by human hunters antiquitatis; giant deer Megaloceros giganteus; (Martin 1984; Martin & Steadman 1999), to lion Panthera leo; and spotted hyaena Crocuta environmental changes (Graham & Lundelius crocuta.
    [Show full text]
  • Paleoecology and Land-Use of Quaternary Megafauna from Saltville, Virginia Emily Simpson East Tennessee State University
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2019 Paleoecology and Land-Use of Quaternary Megafauna from Saltville, Virginia Emily Simpson East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Simpson, Emily, "Paleoecology and Land-Use of Quaternary Megafauna from Saltville, Virginia" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3590. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3590 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Paleoecology and Land-Use of Quaternary Megafauna from Saltville, Virginia ________________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Geosciences with a concentration in Paleontology _______________________________ by Emily Michelle Bruff Simpson May 2019 ________________________________ Dr. Chris Widga, Chair Dr. Blaine W. Schubert Dr. Andrew Joyner Key Words: Paleoecology, land-use, grassy balds, stable isotope ecology, Whitetop Mountain ABSTRACT Paleoecology and Land-Use of Quaternary Megafauna from Saltville, Virginia by Emily Michelle Bruff Simpson Land-use, feeding habits, and response to seasonality by Quaternary megaherbivores in Saltville, Virginia, is poorly understood. Stable isotope analyses of serially sampled Bootherium and Equus enamel from Saltville were used to explore seasonally calibrated (δ18O) patterns in megaherbivore diet (δ13C) and land-use (87Sr/86Sr).
    [Show full text]
  • Variable Impact of Late-Quaternary Megafaunal Extinction in Causing
    Variable impact of late-Quaternary megafaunal SPECIAL FEATURE extinction in causing ecological state shifts in North and South America Anthony D. Barnoskya,b,c,1, Emily L. Lindseya,b, Natalia A. Villavicencioa,b, Enrique Bostelmannd,2, Elizabeth A. Hadlye, James Wanketf, and Charles R. Marshalla,b aDepartment of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; bMuseum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; cMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; dRed Paleontológica U-Chile, Laboratoria de Ontogenia, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Chile; eDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; and fDepartment of Geography, California State University, Sacramento, CA 95819 Edited by John W. Terborgh, Duke University, Durham, NC, and approved August 5, 2015 (received for review March 16, 2015) Loss of megafauna, an aspect of defaunation, can precipitate many megafauna loss, and if so, what does this loss imply for the future ecological changes over short time scales. We examine whether of ecosystems at risk for losing their megafauna today? megafauna loss can also explain features of lasting ecological state shifts that occurred as the Pleistocene gave way to the Holocene. We Approach compare ecological impacts of late-Quaternary megafauna extinction The late-Quaternary impact of losing 70–80% of the megafauna in five American regions: southwestern Patagonia, the Pampas, genera in the Americas (19) would be expected to trigger biotic northeastern United States, northwestern United States, and Berin- transitions that would be recognizable in the fossil record in at gia. We find that major ecological state shifts were consistent with least two respects.
    [Show full text]
  • Overkill, Glacial History, and the Extinction of North America's Ice Age Megafauna
    PERSPECTIVE Overkill, glacial history, and the extinction of North America’s Ice Age megafauna PERSPECTIVE David J. Meltzera,1 Edited by Richard G. Klein, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved September 23, 2020 (received for review July 21, 2020) The end of the Pleistocene in North America saw the extinction of 38 genera of mostly large mammals. As their disappearance seemingly coincided with the arrival of people in the Americas, their extinction is often attributed to human overkill, notwithstanding a dearth of archaeological evidence of human predation. Moreover, this period saw the extinction of other species, along with significant changes in many surviving taxa, suggesting a broader cause, notably, the ecological upheaval that occurred as Earth shifted from a glacial to an interglacial climate. But, overkill advocates ask, if extinctions were due to climate changes, why did these large mammals survive previous glacial−interglacial transitions, only to vanish at the one when human hunters were present? This question rests on two assumptions: that pre- vious glacial−interglacial transitions were similar to the end of the Pleistocene, and that the large mammal genera survived unchanged over multiple such cycles. Neither is demonstrably correct. Resolving the cause of large mammal extinctions requires greater knowledge of individual species’ histories and their adaptive tolerances, a fuller understanding of how past climatic and ecological changes impacted those animals and their biotic communities, and what changes occurred at the Pleistocene−Holocene boundary that might have led to those genera going extinct at that time. Then we will be able to ascertain whether the sole ecologically significant difference between previous glacial−interglacial transitions and the very last one was a human presence.
    [Show full text]
  • Incorporating a Deeper Temporal Perspective Into Modern Ecology Felisa A
    opinion and perspectives ISSN 1948-6596 perspective Losing time? Incorporating a deeper temporal perspective into modern ecology Felisa A. Smith1 and Alison G. Boyer2 1Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. [email protected]; http://biology.unm.edu/fasmith/ 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. [email protected]; http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/boyer/index.html Abstract. Ecologists readily acknowledge that a temporal perspective is essential for untangling ecological complexity, yet most studies remain of relatively short duration. Despite a number of excellent essays on the topic, only recently have ecologists begun to explicitly incorporate a historical component. Here we provide several concrete examples drawn largely from our own work that clearly illustrate how the adoption of a longer temporal perspective produces results significantly at odds with those obtained when relying solely on modern data. We focus on projects in the areas of conservation, global change and macroecology because such work often relies on broad-scale or synthetic data that may be heavily influenced by historic or prehistoric anthropogenic factors. Our analysis suggests that considerable care should be taken when extrapolating from studies of extant systems. Few, if any, modern systems have been unaffected by anthropogenic influences. We encourage the further integration between paleoecologists and ecologists, who have been historically segregated into different departments, scientific societies and scientific cultures. Keywords: climate change, conservation, macroecology, paleoecology, palaeoecology, woodrat The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a nature of animals like the pronghorn, but more as quintessential symbol of the Great Plains.
    [Show full text]
  • Formal Ratification of the Subdivision of the Holocene Series/ Epoch
    Article 1 by Mike Walker1*, Martin J. Head 2, Max Berkelhammer3, Svante Björck4, Hai Cheng5, Les Cwynar6, David Fisher7, Vasilios Gkinis8, Antony Long9, John Lowe10, Rewi Newnham11, Sune Olander Rasmussen8, and Harvey Weiss12 Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene Series/ Epoch (Quaternary System/Period): two new Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSPs) and three new stages/ subseries 1 School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, Trinity Saint David, University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales SA48 7EJ, UK; Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Wales SY23 3DB, UK; *Corresponding author, E-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario LS2 3A1, Canada 3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA 4 GeoBiosphere Science Centre, Quaternary Sciences, Lund University, Sölveg 12, SE-22362, Lund, Sweden 5 Institute of Global Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xian, Shaanxi 710049, China; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minne- sota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA 6 Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada 7 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa K1N 615, Canada 8 Centre for Ice and Climate, The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Julian Maries Vej 30, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark 9 Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK 10
    [Show full text]
  • The Reconfiguration of Seed-Dispersal Interactions After Megafaunal Extinction
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual da Universidade de São Paulo (BDPI/USP) Universidade de São Paulo Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual - BDPI Departamento de Ecologia - IB/BIE Artigos e Materiais de Revistas Científicas - IB/BIE 2014-05 Reconstructing past ecological networks: the reconfiguration of seed-dispersal interactions after megafaunal extinction Oecologia, Heidelberg, v.175, n.4, p.1247-1256, 2014 http://www.producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/45245 Downloaded from: Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual - BDPI, Universidade de São Paulo Oecologia (2014) 175:1247–1256 DOI 10.1007/s00442-014-2971-1 PLANT-MICROBE-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS - ORIGINAL RESEARCH Reconstructing past ecological networks: the reconfiguration of seed‑dispersal interactions after megafaunal extinction Mathias M. Pires · Mauro Galetti · Camila I. Donatti · Marco A. Pizo · Rodolfo Dirzo · Paulo R. Guimarães Jr. Received: 16 December 2013 / Accepted: 9 May 2014 / Published online: 28 May 2014 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract The late Quaternary megafaunal extinction extinction and the arrival of humans changed how seed impacted ecological communities worldwide, and affected dispersers were distributed among network modules. How- key ecological processes such as seed dispersal. The traits ever, the recent introduction of livestock into the seed- of several species of large-seeded plants are thought to have dispersal system partially restored the original network evolved in response to interactions with extinct megafauna, organization by strengthening the modular configuration. but how these extinctions affected the organization of inter- Moreover, after megafaunal extinctions, introduced species actions in seed-dispersal systems is poorly understood.
    [Show full text]