• Ancient sedimentary DNA shows rapid post-glacial colonisation of Iceland followed by relatively stable vegetation until the Norse settlement (Landnám) AD 870 

      Alsos, Inger Greve; Lammers, Youri; Kjellman, Sofia Elisabeth; Merkel, Marie Føreid; Bender, Emma Marie; Rouillard, Alexandra; Erlendsson, Egill; Gudmundsdottir, Esther Ruth; Benediktsson, Ívar Örn; Farnsworth, Wesley Randall; Brynjólfsson, Skafti; Gísladóttir, Guðrún; Eddudóttir, Sigrún Dögg; Schomacker, Anders (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-04-08)
      Understanding patterns of colonisation is important for explaining both the distribution of single species and anticipating how ecosystems may respond to global warming. Insular flora may be especially vulnerable because oceans represent severe dispersal barriers. Here we analyse two lake sediment cores from Iceland for ancient sedimentary DNA to infer patterns of colonisation and Holocene vegetation ...
    • Last Glacial Maximum environmental conditions at Andøya, northern Norway; evidence for a northern ice-edge ecological “hotspot” 

      Alsos, Inger Greve; Sjøgren, Per Johan E; Brown, Antony; Gielly, Ludovic; Merkel, Marie Føreid; Paus, Aage; Lammers, Youri; Edwards, Mary E.; Alm, Torbjørn; Leng, Melanie; Goslar, Tomasz; Langdon, Cathrine; Bakke, Jostein; Van Der Bilt, Willem (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2020-06-05)
      Andøya on the NW coast of Norway is a key site for understanding the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in northern Europe. Controversy has arisen concerning the local conditions, especially about the timing and extent of local glacial cover, maximum July temperatures and whether pine and/or spruce could have grown there. We reviewed all existing data and add newly analysed ancient sedimentary DNA ...
    • Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics 

      Wang, Yucheng; Pedersen, Mikkel W.; Alsos, Inger Greve; De Sanctis, Bianca; Racimo, Fernando; Prohaska, Ana; Coissac, Eric; Owens, Hannah L.; Merkel, Marie Føreid; Fernandez-Guerra, Antonio; Rouillard, Alexandra; Lammers, Youri; Alberti, Adriana; Denoeud, France; Money, Daniel; Ruter, Anthony H.; McColl, Hugh; Larsen, Nicolaj K.; Cherezova, Anna A.; Edwards, Mary E.; Fedorov, Grigory B.; Haile, James; Orlando, Ludovic; Vinner, Lasse; Korneliussen, Thorfinn S.; Beilman, David W.; Bjørk, Anders A.; Cao, Jialu; Dockter, Christoph; Esdale, Julie; Gusarova, Galina; Kjeldsen, Kristian K.; Mangerud, Jan; Rasic, Jeffrey T.; Skadhauge, Birgitte; Svendsen, John Inge; Tikhonov, Alexei N.; Wincker, Patrick; Xing, Yingchun; Zhang, Yubin; Froese, Duane G.; Rahbek, Carsten; Nogues, David B; Holden, Philip B.; Edwards, Neil R.; Durbin, Richard; Meltzer, David J.; Kjær, Kurt H.; Moller, Per; Willerslev, Eske (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-10-20)
      During the last glacial–interglacial cycle, Arctic biotas experienced substantial climatic changes, yet the nature, extent and rate of their responses are not fully understood1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, analysing 535 permafrost and lake sediment samples from across the Arctic spanning the past 50,000 years. ...
    • Postglacial species arrival and diversity buildup of northern ecosystems took millennia 

      Alsos, Inger Greve; Rijal, Dilli Prasad; Ehrich, Dorothee; Karger, Dirk Nikolaus; Yoccoz, Nigel; Heintzman, Peter D.; Brown, Antony; Lammers, Youri; Pellissier, Loïc; Alm, Torbjørn; Bråthen, Kari Anne; Coissac, Eric; Merkel, Marie Føreid; Alberti, Adriana; Denoeud, France; Bakke, Jostein (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022-09-28)
      What drives ecosystem buildup, diversity, and stability? We assess species arrival and ecosystem changes across 16 millennia by combining regional-scale plant sedimentary ancient DNA from Fennoscandia with near-complete DNA and trait databases. We show that postglacial arrival time varies within and between plant growth forms. Further, arrival times were mainly predicted by adaptation to temperature, ...