Long livestock farming history and human landscape shaping revealed by lake sediment DNA.
The reconstruction of human-driven, Earth-shaping dynamics is important for understanding past human/environment interactions and for helping human societies that currently face global changes. However, it is often challenging to distinguish the effects of the climate from human activities on environmental changes. Here we evaluate an approach based on DNA metabarcoding used on lake sediments to provide the first high-resolution reconstruction of plant cover and livestock farming history since the Neolithic Period. By comparing these data with a previous reconstruction of erosive event frequency, we show that the most intense erosion period was caused by deforestation and overgrazing by sheep and cowherds during the Late Iron Age and Roman Period. Tracking plants and domestic mammals using lake sediment DNA (lake sedDNA) is a new, promising method for tracing past human practices, and it provides a new outlook of the effects of anthropogenic factors on landscape-scale changes.
1] Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France [2] EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France [3].
Charline
C
Giguet-Covex
1] Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France [2].
Johan
J
Pansu
EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
Fabien
F
Arnaud
EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
Pierre-Jérôme
PJ
Rey
EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
Christophe
C
Griggo
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France.
Ludovic
L
Gielly
INRA, UMR042 CARRTEL, Thonon les Bains, France.
Isabelle
I
Domaizon
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France.
Eric
E
Coissac
CEREGE, Université Aix-Marseille, 13545 Aix en Provence, France.
Fernand
F
David
1] Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France [2] Station Alpine Joseph Fourier, UMS 3370 CNRS - Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France.
Philippe
P
Choler
EDYTEM, Université de Savoie, CNRS Pôle Montagne, 73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
Jérôme
J
Poulenard
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041 Grenoble, France.
Pierre
P
Taberlet
D029661:Alnus / Q000737:chemistry; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D005602:France; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D060106:Lakes; D028223:Pinus / Q000737:chemistry; D012756:Sheep; D014197:Trees / Q000737:chemistry
D004247:DNA