Early human impact on lake cyanobacteria revealed by a Holocene record of 
sedimentary ancient DNA

Nwosu, Ebuka Canisius; Brauer, A.; Monchamp, Marie-Eve; Pinkerneil, Sylvia; Bartholomäus, Alexander; Theuerkauf, Martin; Schmidt, Jens-Peter; Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R.; Wietelmann, Theresa; Kaiser, Jerome; Wagner, D.; Liebner, Susanne

doi:10.1038/s42003-023-04430-z

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Early human impact on lake cyanobacteria revealed by a Holocene record of sedimentary ancient DNA

Authors

/persons/resource/enwosu

Nwosu, Ebuka Canisius
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/brau

Brauer, A.
4.3 Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, 4.0 Geosystems, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Monchamp, Marie-Eve

/persons/resource/sytopi

Pinkerneil, Sylvia
4.3 Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, 4.0 Geosystems, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/abartho

Bartholomäus, Alexander
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Theuerkauf, Martin
External Organizations;

Schmidt, Jens-Peter
External Organizations;

Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R.
External Organizations;

Wietelmann, Theresa
External Organizations;

Kaiser, Jerome
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/dwagner

Wagner, D.
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/sliebner

Liebner, Susanne
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

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Citation

Nwosu, E. C., Brauer, A., Monchamp, M.-E., Pinkerneil, S., Bartholomäus, A., Theuerkauf, M., Schmidt, J.-P., Stoof-Leichsenring, K. R., Wietelmann, T., Kaiser, J., Wagner, D., Liebner, S. (2023): Early human impact on lake cyanobacteria revealed by a Holocene record of sedimentary ancient DNA. - Communications Biology, 6, 72.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04430-z

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5014718

Abstract

Sedimentary DNA-based studies revealed the effects of human activity on lake cyanobacteria communities over the last centuries, yet we continue to lack information over longer timescales. Here, we apply high-resolution molecular analyses on sedimentary ancient DNA to reconstruct the history of cyanobacteria throughout the Holocene in a lake in north-eastern Germany. We find a substantial increase in cyanobacteria abundance coinciding with deforestation during the early Bronze Age around 4000 years ago, suggesting increased nutrient supply to the lake by local communities settling on the lakeshore. The next substantial human-driven increase in cyanobacteria abundance occurred only about a century ago due to intensified agricultural fertilisation which caused the dominance of potentially toxic taxa (e.g., Aphanizomenon). Our study provides evidence that humans began to locally impact lake ecology much earlier than previously assumed. Consequently, managing aquatic systems today requires awareness of the legacy of human influence dating back potentially several millennia.