From micromammals to paleoenvironments
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ORIGINAL PAPER
From micromammals to paleoenvironments Orr Comay 1
&
Tamar Dayan 1
Received: 18 September 2017 / Accepted: 23 January 2018 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract Micromammal assemblages are often used in paleoecological reconstructions. However, in studies to date, the environmental variables reconstructed were not shown to drive micromammal community structure before the reconstruction was attempted. Furthermore, the relative abundance data is too often dismissed despite its potential paleoecological value. Here we chose to reconstruct the botanical succession stage known to impact micromammal communities in the Mediterranean zone of Israel. We used weighted averaging partial least squares (WAPLS) regression to model the connection between botanical succession phase and the micromammal faunas as reflected in Tyto alba pellets. In addition to cross-validation, we validated our model using historical T. alba pellet data and contemporary maps. Moreover, we tested the repercussions of misidentifying the owl species in archaeological micromammal assemblages by applying our model to Recent assemblages collected by other owl species. Our WAPLS model differentiated forested environments from garrigue or grassland dominated ones in both the cross-validation and in the reconstructed historical environments. However, urban environments were not well distinguished from grasslands and garrigues, and misidentifying the owl species severely compromised model performance. Our results stress the potential insight deducible from micromammal relative abundance data, given its reliance on empirically tested relationships between fauna, environment, and taphonomic agent (predator). Keywords Paleoenvironment . Micromammals . Actualistic . Modelling . Archaeozoology
Introduction While the notion that microvertebrates in general and micromammals in particular can provide paleoenvironmental information is generally accepted (e.g., Chaline 1977; Avery 1982; Andrews 1990; Fernández-Jalvo et al. 1998; Popov et al. 2014), the preferable methodology to this end is still debated. Two general approaches have been developed and used in various studies: (1) use of species lists of micromammals as indicators of environmental conditions (Fernández-Jalvo 1995; Tchernov 1996; Montoya et al. 2001; Reed and Denys 2011; Maul et al. 2016) and (2) Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0608-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Orr Comay [email protected] 1
Department of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
analysis of relative abundances of the species in the paleocommunity (e.g., Avery 1982; Kersten 1992; Belmaker and Hovers 2011; Matthews et al. 2011; Lyman 2014). A contentious issue is the reliability and interpretability of relative abundances, mainly because various taphonomic processes may bias them (see [Stahl 1996] for a r
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