The analysis of ancient barcodes from complex samples such as permafrost, cave, lake and marine sediments is currently revolutionising palaeoecology. Ancient DNA metabarcoding enables the reconstruction of ancient communities and ecologies by identifying taxonomic groups such as plants, mammals, fish, or fungi. These reconstructions, along with the usage of traditional proxies such as macrofossils or pollen, as well as alternative molecular techniques such as hybridization capture and shotgun sequencing, allows for the identification of how these communities responded to past climatic events. This can provide invaluable information on how they will respond to the ongoing climatic changes. Compared to contemporary metabarcoding, ancient DNA metabarcoding comes with its own unique challenges given the highly fragmented nature of the material, which requires the usage of short amplicons. Furthermore, given the low template and risk of contamination, extensive usage of replication, controls and work in clean laboratory environments is required to limit the risk of contamination. This session welcomes papers using ancient DNA metabarcoding for ecological reconstructions from any location or period, or that have a focus on methodological developments.

 

 

 Agenda

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Comparing metabarcoding, target capture and shotgun sequencing for studies of vascular plants in sediment samples.

Presenter: Nichola Strandberg
Affiliation: UiT Norges Arctic University
Format: Full Talk

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Abandoned agricultural terraces hold sedaDNA archive from boreal to sub-tropical biomes for millennia.

Presenter: Antony Brown
Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Format: Full Talk

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Bacterial communities as sedimentary indicators of anthropogenic impact on Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica).

Presenter: Florencia Bertoglio
Affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE); Geography Department, Centre for Northern Studies (CEN), Université Laval
Format: Full Talk

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Millennia of spatiotemporal plant diversity trajectories captured by sedimentary ancient DNA.

Presenter: Dilli Prasad Rijal
Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Format: Full Talk

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Plant-herbivore networks through time in northern Fennoscandia revealed using sedaDNA.

Presenter: Inger Greve Alsos
Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Format: Full Talk

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How Baltic phytoplankton communities changed during Global Change.

Presenter: Juliane Romahn
Affiliation: Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum
Format: Full Talk

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Fragment diversity, one multiplex: an assessment of bryophyte and fungal metabarcode primer.

Presenter: Bishnu Timilsina
Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Format: Full Talk

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The last mammoth in the Polar Urals and its correlation to vegetation change.

Presenter: Youri Lammers
Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Format: Full Talk

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