Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia

Laura Parducci; Tina Jørgensen; Mari Mette Tollefsrud; Ellen Elverland; Torbjørn Alm; Sonia L. Fontana; K. D. Bennett; James Seymour Haile; Irina Matetovici; Yoshihisa Suyama; Mary E. Edwards; Kenneth Andersen; Morten Rasmussen; Sanne Boessenkool; Eric Coissac; Christian Brochmann; Pierre Taberlet; Michael Houmark-Nielsen; Nicolaj Krog Larsen; Ludovic Antoine Alexandre Orlando; Tom Gilbert; Kurt H. Kjær; Inger Greve Alsos; Eske Willerslev

doi:10.1126/science.1216043

Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia

Laura Parducci, Tina Jørgensen, Mari Mette Tollefsrud, Ellen Elverland, Torbjørn Alm, Sonia L. Fontana, K. D. Bennett, James Seymour Haile, Irina Matetovici, Yoshihisa Suyama, Mary E. Edwards, Kenneth Andersen, Morten Rasmussen, Sanne Boessenkool, Eric Coissac, Christian Brochmann, Pierre Taberlet, Michael Houmark-Nielsen, Nicolaj Krog Larsen, Ludovic Antoine Alexandre OrlandoTom Gilbert, Kurt H. Kjær, Inger Greve Alsos, Eske Willerslev

220 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is commonly believed that trees were absent in Scandinavia during the last glaciation and first recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula with the retreat of its ice sheet some 9000 years ago. Here, we show the presence of a rare mitochondrial DNA haplotype of spruce that appears unique to Scandinavia and with its highest frequency to the west-an area believed to sustain ice-free refugia during most of the last ice age. We further show the survival of DNA from this haplotype in lake sediments and pollen of Trøndelag in central Norway dating back ~10,300 years and chloroplast DNA of pine and spruce in lake sediments adjacent to the ice-free Andøya refugium in northwestern Norway as early as ~22,000 and 17,700 years ago, respectively. Our findings imply that conifer trees survived in ice-free refugia of Scandinavia during the last glaciation, challenging current views on survival and spread of trees as a response to climate changes.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	335
Issue number	6072
Pages (from-to)	1083-1086
Number of pages	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1216043
Publication status	Published - 2 Mar 2012

Keywords

Base Sequence
DNA, Chloroplast
DNA, Mitochondrial
Ecosystem
Europe
Fossils
Geologic Sediments
Haplotypes
Ice Cover
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation
Norway
Picea
Pinus
Scandinavia
Time

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Parducci, L., Jørgensen, T., Tollefsrud, M. M., Elverland, E., Alm, T., Fontana, S. L., Bennett, K. D., Haile, J. S., Matetovici, I., Suyama, Y., Edwards, M. E., Andersen, K., Rasmussen, M., Boessenkool, S., Coissac, E., Brochmann, C., Taberlet, P., Houmark-Nielsen, M., Larsen, N. K., ... Willerslev, E. (2012). Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia. Science, 335(6072), 1083-1086. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1216043

Parducci, L, Jørgensen, T, Tollefsrud, MM, Elverland, E, Alm, T, Fontana, SL, Bennett, KD, Haile, JS, Matetovici, I, Suyama, Y, Edwards, ME, Andersen, K, Rasmussen, M, Boessenkool, S, Coissac, E, Brochmann, C, Taberlet, P, Houmark-Nielsen, M, Larsen, NK, Orlando, LAA, Gilbert, T , Kjær, KH, Alsos, IG & Willerslev, E 2012, 'Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia', Science, vol. 335, no. 6072, pp. 1083-1086. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1216043

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title = "Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia",

abstract = "It is commonly believed that trees were absent in Scandinavia during the last glaciation and first recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula with the retreat of its ice sheet some 9000 years ago. Here, we show the presence of a rare mitochondrial DNA haplotype of spruce that appears unique to Scandinavia and with its highest frequency to the west-an area believed to sustain ice-free refugia during most of the last ice age. We further show the survival of DNA from this haplotype in lake sediments and pollen of Tr{\o}ndelag in central Norway dating back ~10,300 years and chloroplast DNA of pine and spruce in lake sediments adjacent to the ice-free And{\o}ya refugium in northwestern Norway as early as ~22,000 and 17,700 years ago, respectively. Our findings imply that conifer trees survived in ice-free refugia of Scandinavia during the last glaciation, challenging current views on survival and spread of trees as a response to climate changes.",

keywords = "Base Sequence, DNA, Chloroplast, DNA, Mitochondrial, Ecosystem, Europe, Fossils, Geologic Sediments, Haplotypes, Ice Cover, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Norway, Picea, Pinus, Scandinavia, Time",

author = "Laura Parducci and Tina J{\o}rgensen and Tollefsrud, {Mari Mette} and Ellen Elverland and Torbj{\o}rn Alm and Fontana, {Sonia L.} and Bennett, {K. D.} and Haile, {James Seymour} and Irina Matetovici and Yoshihisa Suyama and Edwards, {Mary E.} and Kenneth Andersen and Morten Rasmussen and Sanne Boessenkool and Eric Coissac and Christian Brochmann and Pierre Taberlet and Michael Houmark-Nielsen and Larsen, {Nicolaj Krog} and Orlando, {Ludovic Antoine Alexandre} and Tom Gilbert and Kj{\ae}r, {Kurt H.} and Alsos, {Inger Greve} and Eske Willerslev",

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AU - Parducci, Laura

AU - Jørgensen, Tina

AU - Tollefsrud, Mari Mette

AU - Elverland, Ellen

AU - Alm, Torbjørn

AU - Fontana, Sonia L.

AU - Bennett, K. D.

AU - Haile, James Seymour

AU - Matetovici, Irina

AU - Suyama, Yoshihisa

AU - Edwards, Mary E.

AU - Andersen, Kenneth

AU - Rasmussen, Morten

AU - Boessenkool, Sanne

AU - Coissac, Eric

AU - Brochmann, Christian

AU - Taberlet, Pierre

AU - Houmark-Nielsen, Michael

AU - Larsen, Nicolaj Krog

AU - Orlando, Ludovic Antoine Alexandre

AU - Gilbert, Tom

AU - Kjær, Kurt H.

AU - Alsos, Inger Greve

AU - Willerslev, Eske

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N2 - It is commonly believed that trees were absent in Scandinavia during the last glaciation and first recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula with the retreat of its ice sheet some 9000 years ago. Here, we show the presence of a rare mitochondrial DNA haplotype of spruce that appears unique to Scandinavia and with its highest frequency to the west-an area believed to sustain ice-free refugia during most of the last ice age. We further show the survival of DNA from this haplotype in lake sediments and pollen of Trøndelag in central Norway dating back ~10,300 years and chloroplast DNA of pine and spruce in lake sediments adjacent to the ice-free Andøya refugium in northwestern Norway as early as ~22,000 and 17,700 years ago, respectively. Our findings imply that conifer trees survived in ice-free refugia of Scandinavia during the last glaciation, challenging current views on survival and spread of trees as a response to climate changes.

AB - It is commonly believed that trees were absent in Scandinavia during the last glaciation and first recolonized the Scandinavian Peninsula with the retreat of its ice sheet some 9000 years ago. Here, we show the presence of a rare mitochondrial DNA haplotype of spruce that appears unique to Scandinavia and with its highest frequency to the west-an area believed to sustain ice-free refugia during most of the last ice age. We further show the survival of DNA from this haplotype in lake sediments and pollen of Trøndelag in central Norway dating back ~10,300 years and chloroplast DNA of pine and spruce in lake sediments adjacent to the ice-free Andøya refugium in northwestern Norway as early as ~22,000 and 17,700 years ago, respectively. Our findings imply that conifer trees survived in ice-free refugia of Scandinavia during the last glaciation, challenging current views on survival and spread of trees as a response to climate changes.

KW - Base Sequence

KW - DNA, Chloroplast

KW - DNA, Mitochondrial

KW - Ecosystem

KW - Europe

KW - Fossils

KW - Geologic Sediments

KW - Haplotypes

KW - Ice Cover

KW - Molecular Sequence Data

KW - Mutation

KW - Norway

KW - Picea

KW - Pinus

KW - Scandinavia

KW - Time

U2 - 10.1126/science.1216043

DO - 10.1126/science.1216043

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22383845

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 335

SP - 1083

EP - 1086

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6072

ER -

Glacial survival of boreal trees in northern Scandinavia

Abstract

Keywords

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