Sedimentary Ancient DNA Tracks Multi‐Kingdom Ecosystem Reorganizations Following Sequential Human Land Use at Crawford Lake
Tyler J Murchie, Matthew V Emery, Scott L Cocker, Libby Natola, Melanie Kuch, Linda Y Rutledge, Francine McCarthy, Michael F J Pisaric, Hendrik N Poinar · 2026
Read Sedimentary Ancient DNA Tracks Multi‐Kingdom Ecosystem Reorganizations Following Sequential Human Land Use at Crawford Lake by Tyler J Murchie, Matthew V Emery, Scott L Cocker, Libby Natola, Melanie Kuch, Linda Y Rutledge, Francine McCarthy, Michael F J Pisaric, Hendrik N Poinar (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13551257.txt.
Description
Tyler Murchie and colleagues read thirteen centuries of lake mud to watch ecosystems reorganize under human feet. Crawford Lake in Canada lays down two sediment layers a year, preserving a dated archive. The team extracted ancient DNA from plants, animals, algae, fungi, and bacteria in that archive.
Indigenous farming villages shifted the whole lake community. Canada geese drawn to the cleared fields roosted on the water, and their droppings fed algal blooms that permanently changed the lake. European settlement pushed succession further. Since the sawmill closed in 1900, local pressure eased, and the lake has partly settled. The DNA record shows how land use echoes for centuries.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Tyler J Murchie, Matthew V Emery, Scott L Cocker, Libby Natola, Melanie Kuch, Linda Y Rutledge, Francine McCarthy, Michael F J Pisaric, Hendrik N Poinar |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 112 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |