2025/08/13 by Elisabetta Canteri, Stuart C. Brown, Eric Post +3 · 2 voices · 1 citation
Health Professions · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Indigenous Studies and Ecology #Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu0175
Rangifer tarandus (caribou or reindeer) survived periods of abrupt climatic warming during the last deglaciation but are currently in global decline. Using process-explicit models of likely climate-human- Rangifer interactions and inferences of demographic change from radiocarbon-dated fossils and ancient DNA, we reconstruct and decipher 21,000 years of Rangifer population dynamics. These high-resolution population reconstructions pinpoint ecological characteristics and life-history traits that most likely enabled Rangifer to survive rapid warming events following the Last Glacial Maximum. Projecting these process-driven models into the future reveals that these attributes are unlikely to buffer Rangifer against wide-scale population declines from expected 21st Century climatic warming. Our findings highlight a need to boost investments in the management and conservation of Rangifer , particularly in North America, where projected losses are expected to exceed 80%. This will not only support the survival of the species and the vital services it renders in Arctic ecosystems, but also help sustain the socioeconomic, cultural, and emotional well-being of many Rangifer -dependent communities.