The aftermath of megafaunal extinction: ecosystem transformation in Pleistocene Australia - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2012 Mar 23;335(6075):1483-6.

doi: 10.1126/science.1214261.

Affiliations

• PMID: 22442481
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1214261

The aftermath of megafaunal extinction: ecosystem transformation in Pleistocene Australia

Susan Rule et al. Science. 2012.

Erratum in

• Science. 2012 Jul 20;337(6092):292

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.

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Comment in

• Paleontology. The hunters did it.
  McGlone M. McGlone M. Science. 2012 Mar 23;335(6075):1452-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1220176. Science. 2012. PMID: 22442471 No abstract available.

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