Dataset Information

Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years.

ABSTRACT: Dairy pastoralism is integral to contemporary and past lifeways on the eastern Eurasian steppe, facilitating survival in agriculturally challenging environments. While previous research has indicated that ruminant dairy pastoralism was practiced in the region by circa 1300?BC, the origin, extent and diversity of this custom remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse ancient proteins from human dental calculus recovered from geographically diverse locations across Mongolia and spanning 5,000?years. We present the earliest evidence for dairy consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe by circa 3000?BC and the later emergence of horse milking at circa 1200?BC, concurrent with the first evidence for horse riding. We argue that ruminant dairying contributed to the demographic success of Bronze Age Mongolian populations and that the origins of traditional horse dairy products in eastern Eurasia are closely tied to the regional emergence of mounted herding societies during the late second millennium BC.

SUBMITTER: Wilkin S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7212056 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years.

Wilkin Shevan S Ventresca Miller Alicia A Taylor William T T WTT Miller Bryan K BK Hagan Richard W RW Bleasdale Madeleine M Scott Ashley A Gankhuyg Sumiya S Ramsøe Abigail A Uliziibayar S S Trachsel Christian C Nanni Paolo P Grossmann Jonas J Orlando Ludovic L Horton Mark M Stockhammer Philipp W PW Myagmar Erdene E Boivin Nicole N Warinner Christina C Hendy Jessica J

Nature ecology & evolution 20200302 3

Dairy pastoralism is integral to contemporary and past lifeways on the eastern Eurasian steppe, facilitating survival in agriculturally challenging environments. While previous research has indicated that ruminant dairy pastoralism was practiced in the region by circa 1300 BC, the origin, extent and diversity of this custom remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse ancient proteins from human dental calculus recovered from geographically diverse locations across Mongolia and spanning 5,000 year ...[more]

PMID: 32127685

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Project description:Many biodiversity experiments have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity in experimental grasslands. However, less is known about how diversity-stability relationships are mediated by grazing. Grazing is known for causing species losses, but its effects on plant functional groups (PFGs) composition and species asynchrony, which are closely correlated with ecosystem stability, remain unclear. We conducted a six-year grazing experiment in a semi-arid steppe, using seven levels of grazing intensity (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0 sheep per hectare) and two grazing systems (i.e., a traditional, continuous grazing system during the growing period (TGS), and a mixed one rotating grazing and mowing annually (MGS)), to examine the effects of grazing system and grazing intensity on the abundance and composition of PFGs and diversity-stability relationships. Ecosystem stability was similar between mixed and continuous grazing treatments. However, within the two grazing systems, stability was maintained through different pathways, that is, along with grazing intensity, persistence biomass variations in MGS, and compensatory interactions of PFGs in their biomass variations in TGS. Ecosystem temporal stability was not decreased by species loss but rather remain unchanged by the strong compensatory effects between PFGs, or a higher grazing-induced decrease in species asynchrony at higher diversity, and a higher grazing-induced increase in the temporal variation of productivity in diverse communities. Ecosystem stability of aboveground net primary production was not related to species richness in both grazing systems. High grazing intensity weakened the temporal stabilizing effects of diversity in this semi-arid grassland. Our results demonstrate that the productivity of dominant PFGs is more important than species richness for maximizing stability in this system. This study distinguishes grazing intensity and grazing system from diversity effects on the temporal stability, highlighting the need to better understand how grazing regulates ecosystem stability, plant diversity, and their synergic relationships.

Dataset Information

Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years.

Publications

Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years.

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