DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1dv51
title: Data from: Islands in the ice: detecting past vegetation on Greenlandic nunataks using historical records and sedimentary ancient DNA meta-barcoding

description: Nunataks are isolated bedrocks protruding through ice sheets. They vary in
 age, but represent island environments in “oceans” of ice through which
 organism dispersals and replacements can be studied over time. The J.A.D.
 Jensen’s Nunataks at the southern Greenland ice sheet are the most
 isolated nunataks on the northern hemisphere - some 30 km from the nearest
 biological source. They constitute around 2 km2 of ice-free land that was
 established in the early Holocene. We have investigated the changes in
 plant composition at these nunataks using both the results of surveys of
 the flora over the last 130 years, and through reconstruction of the
 vegetation from the end of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (5528±75 cal yr
 BP) using meta-barcoding of plant DNA recovered from the nunatak sediments
 (sedaDNA). Our results show that several of the plant species detected
 with sedaDNA are described from earlier vegetation surveys on the nunataks
 (in 1878, 1967 and 2009). In 1967, a much higher biodiversity was detected
 than from any other of the studied periods. While this may be related to
 differences in sampling efforts for the oldest period, it is not the case
 when comparing the 1967 and 2009 levels where the botanical survey was
 exhaustive. As no animals and humans are found on the nunataks, this
 change in diversity over a period of just 42 years must relate to
 environmental changes likely being climate-driven. This suggests that even
 the flora of fairly small and isolated ice-free areas reacts quickly to a
 changing climate.
description: JN1-topAncient DNA sequences extracted from sediment sample 'JN1-top' from J.A.D. Jensen's Nunataks (Greenland). Sequences are amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.JN1_lowAncient DNA sequences extracted from sediment sample 'JN1-low' from J.A.D. Jensen's Nunataks (Greenland). Sequences are amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.JN2-topAncient DNA sequences extracted from sediment sample 'JN2-top' from J.A.D. Jensen's Nunataks (Greenland). Sequences are amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.JN2_top.txtJN2-lowAncient DNA sequences extracted from sediment sample 'JN2-low' from J.A.D. Jensen's Nunataks (Greenland). Sequences are amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.JN2_low.txtJN3-lowAncient DNA sequences extracted from sediment sample 'JN3-low' from J.A.D. Jensen's Nunataks (Greenland). Sequences are amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.JN3_low.txtBlank ControlsBlank controls sequences, amplified with the trnL g and h primers and sequenced on the Roche 454 Sequencing Platform. The results are trimmed for primers and tags, and only sequences found in more than 5 copies per amplicon are included.