Millennial processes of population decline, range contraction and near extinction of the European bison.

ABSTRACT: European bison (Bison bonasus) were widespread throughout Europe during the late Pleistocene. However, the contributions of environmental change and humans to their near extinction have never been resolved. Using process-explicit models, fossils and ancient DNA, we disentangle the combinations of threatening processes that drove population declines and regional extinctions of European bison through space and across time. We show that the population size of European bison declined abruptly at the termination of the Pleistocene in response to rapid environmental change, hunting by humans and their interaction. Human activities prevented populations of European bison from rebounding in the Holocene, despite improved environmental conditions. Hunting caused range loss in the north and e

SUBMITTER: Pilowsky JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10716654 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature