Climate change is actually nothing new for our old planet. He has long motivated the evolution of flora and fauna of the earth and good thing too: without these major changes, we would not be here today. But as man Climate change is accelerating, looking behind how ecosystems responded to drastic climatic fluctuations could help us prepare for what awaits us.
Now, a major gap in our understanding of a key period in the ice age has been filled thanks to a rare discovery: the remains of 46 animal species around 75,000 years ago, discovered in a little explored cave in northern Norway.
Researchers from Norway and the United Kingdom say that the study of how fauna has adapted or has failed to adapt to sudden climate change is vital for conservation efforts today. Their results were published in PNA.
Bone treasure in a cave
According to the study, sedimentary recordings over 10,000 years are extremely rare in glacial regions like the Arctic. Thus, when the researchers began to dig arne Qvamgrotta, an isolated cave in northern Norway, they struck a gold mine: they found remains of polar bear, Morse, archers’ whales, the Atlantic, rocky ptarmigans, of the Atlantic and many others.
“We have very little evidence of what the life of the Arctic looked like during this period because of the lack of conservation of more than 10,000 years,” said the main author Sanne Boessenkool, professor at the University of Oslo, in a press release. “The cave has now revealed a diversified mix of animals in a coastal ecosystem representing both marine and land environments.”
The team also discovered a species never found before in Scandinavia: The Collated Lemming, a rodent adapted to the cold that has disappeared from Europe 11,000 years agoat the end of the last ice age.
Find out more: These puppies in the ice age were in fact wolves
An arctic oasis in a changing climate
The animal variety suggests that after the glaciers have melted, the Norwegian coast has become a paradise largely without ice. He supported migratory reindeer, interior lakes and rivers teeming with freshwater fish and coastal waters with seasonal sea ice, suitable for whales with arc head and porpoises wearing ice cream.
DNA tests have shown that many of these animals did not survive when the cold returned. Unable to migrate while ice once again covered the ground, whole populations have disappeared. The study depicts an image of an arctic from the ice age which seemed quite different from emblematic woolly mammoths and renowned saber -tooth cats of the ice megafauna.
During the last glacial period (around 118,000 years to 11,700 years ago), the Arctic underwent a spectacular ecological reshuffle, driven by cycles in glacial advance, retirement, sea change and sea ice expansion. Dating to the radiocarbon of bones and sediments in the cave helps researchers trace the way the fauna reacted to these upheavals.
Species adapted to the cold in the world of global warming today
“These discoveries provide a rare snapshot of a missing Arctic world,” said the main author Sam Walker of the University of Bournemouth and the University of Oslo in the press release. “They also emphasize how vulnerable species can be vulnerable in changing climatic conditions, which can help us understand their resilience and their risk of extinction in the present.”
Above all, Boessenkool noted that the old climate change documented in the cave was warmer in coldest. Even then, species adapted to the cold had trouble. Today, with rapid warming, these same species are faced with even greater threats.
“This underlines how species adapted to cold have trouble adapting to major climatic events. This has a direct link with the challenges they face in the Arctic today while the climate warms up at a quick pace, “said Walker. “The habitats of these animals in the region live today are much more fractured than 75,000 years ago, so it is even more difficult for animal populations to move and adapt.”
Find out more: How humans in the ice era mastered fire during the coldest era of history
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Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in laboratories in three countries, Jenny excels in translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the last nutritions – into accessible and engaging content. His interests extend to subjects such as human evolution, psychology and stories of eccentric animals. When it is not immersed in a popular scientific book, you will find it to catch waves or sail on the island of Vancouver on its longboard.
