Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: Evidence for climate change

Yoel Melamed; Mordechai Kislev; Ehud Weiss; Orit Simchoni

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.025

Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: Evidence for climate change

Yoel Melamed
, Mordechai Kislev
, Ehud Weiss
, Orit Simchoni

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe two events of water plant extinction in the Hula Valley, northern Israel: the ancient, natural extinction of 3 out of 14 extinct species at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, which occurred some 800-700 k.yr., and an anthropogenic, near contemporary extinction of seven species in the artificial drainage of the Hula Lake in the 1950s. We conclude that the considerable fraction of water plants that disappeared from the Hula Valley in the Early-Middle Pleistocene was the result of habitat desiccation and not global warming. Thus, there is evidence that the hominins who lived in the Hula Valley inhabited a comparatively dry place. The disappearance of water plant species was partially the result of reduced seed dispersal by birds (ornitochory) as a result of the shrinkage of water bodies and their number along the Rift Valley. We suggest that the disappearance of a group of rare, local water plants can be used as an indicator of climate drying and impacts on the local vegetation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	320-327
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Human Evolution
Volume	60
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.025
State	Published - Apr 2011

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was carried out with the support of an ongoing grant awarded by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 300/06 ) to the Center of Excellence Project Title: ‘‘The Effect of Climate Change on the Environment and Hominins of the Upper Jordan Valley between ca. 800 ka and 700 ka as a Basis for Prediction of Future Scenarios’’. The authors wish to thank the Israel Science Foundation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University , and the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University for supporting the international conference where this study was presented. We also thank to the keepers of the herbaria of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem; the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, for their great help for building our seed reference collection. Thanks also to Dr. Y. Langsam of The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, for the SEM photography, and to H. Vered-Leshner, the herbarium of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for her assistance.

Funding

This study was carried out with the support of an ongoing grant awarded by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 300/06 ) to the Center of Excellence Project Title: ‘‘The Effect of Climate Change on the Environment and Hominins of the Upper Jordan Valley between ca. 800 ka and 700 ka as a Basis for Prediction of Future Scenarios’’. The authors wish to thank the Israel Science Foundation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University , and the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University for supporting the international conference where this study was presented. We also thank to the keepers of the herbaria of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem; the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, for their great help for building our seed reference collection. Thanks also to Dr. Y. Langsam of The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, for the SEM photography, and to H. Vered-Leshner, the herbarium of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for her assistance.

Funders	Funder number
Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University
Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel Science Foundation	300/06

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Climatic drying
Extinction
Hippuris
Regional drying
Stratiotes

RAMBI Publications

RAMBI Publications
Geology -- Israel -- Hula Valley
Plants -- Eretz Israel
Animals -- Eretz Israel
Eretz Israel -- Antiquities
Gesher Benot Ya'akov (Israel) -- Antiquities

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.025

Cite this

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title = "Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: Evidence for climate change",

abstract = "We describe two events of water plant extinction in the Hula Valley, northern Israel: the ancient, natural extinction of 3 out of 14 extinct species at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, which occurred some 800-700 k.yr., and an anthropogenic, near contemporary extinction of seven species in the artificial drainage of the Hula Lake in the 1950s. We conclude that the considerable fraction of water plants that disappeared from the Hula Valley in the Early-Middle Pleistocene was the result of habitat desiccation and not global warming. Thus, there is evidence that the hominins who lived in the Hula Valley inhabited a comparatively dry place. The disappearance of water plant species was partially the result of reduced seed dispersal by birds (ornitochory) as a result of the shrinkage of water bodies and their number along the Rift Valley. We suggest that the disappearance of a group of rare, local water plants can be used as an indicator of climate drying and impacts on the local vegetation.",

keywords = "Climatic drying, Extinction, Hippuris, Regional drying, Stratiotes",

author = "Yoel Melamed and Mordechai Kislev and Ehud Weiss and Orit Simchoni",

note = "Funding Information: This study was carried out with the support of an ongoing grant awarded by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 300/06 ) to the Center of Excellence Project Title: {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}The Effect of Climate Change on the Environment and Hominins of the Upper Jordan Valley between ca. 800 ka and 700 ka as a Basis for Prediction of Future Scenarios{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright}. The authors wish to thank the Israel Science Foundation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University , and the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University for supporting the international conference where this study was presented. We also thank to the keepers of the herbaria of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem; the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, for their great help for building our seed reference collection. Thanks also to Dr. Y. Langsam of The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, for the SEM photography, and to H. Vered-Leshner, the herbarium of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, for her assistance. ",

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AB - We describe two events of water plant extinction in the Hula Valley, northern Israel: the ancient, natural extinction of 3 out of 14 extinct species at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, which occurred some 800-700 k.yr., and an anthropogenic, near contemporary extinction of seven species in the artificial drainage of the Hula Lake in the 1950s. We conclude that the considerable fraction of water plants that disappeared from the Hula Valley in the Early-Middle Pleistocene was the result of habitat desiccation and not global warming. Thus, there is evidence that the hominins who lived in the Hula Valley inhabited a comparatively dry place. The disappearance of water plant species was partially the result of reduced seed dispersal by birds (ornitochory) as a result of the shrinkage of water bodies and their number along the Rift Valley. We suggest that the disappearance of a group of rare, local water plants can be used as an indicator of climate drying and impacts on the local vegetation.

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Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: Evidence for climate change

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

RAMBI Publications

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

National Natural History Collection of Seeds and Fruits at Bar-Ilan University

Cite this

Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: Evidence for climate change

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

RAMBI Publications

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Equipment

National Natural History Collection of Seeds and Fruits at Bar-Ilan University

Cite this