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Sediments retrieved from the North Sea seabed reveal preserved genetic traces in Doggerland and expand understanding of ancient forests, environmental changes, and human occupation in Northwest Europe.
Research using ancient DNA extracted from North Sea seabed sediments has identified signs of temperate forest in Doggerland, an ancient land bridge that connected Great Britain to the European continent.
According to the University of Warwick, the region already had trees such as oak, elm, and hazel more than 16,000 years ago, a period earlier than indicated by some pollen-based records.
The study was led by researchers from the University of Warwick, with participation from the University of Bradford in the UK, and published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The investigation analyzed samples taken from southern Doggerland, a landscape now submerged beneath the North Sea and associated with ancient routes of animals, plants, and human groups in Northwest Europe.
The results expand the understanding of the region’s plant occupation at the end of the last Ice Age.
According to the authors, the genetic data indicates that Doggerland had environmental conditions capable of sustaining temperate forest species earlier than the period traditionally indicated by continental records.
Doggerland Forest Appeared Earlier in Sediments
Doggerland was already studied as a land bridge between the current British Isles and continental Europe.
With the new analysis, the area is now also described by researchers as a possible ecological refuge, where plant species would have survived in more favorable local conditions while other parts of northern Europe were still facing the effects of the glacial climate.
The team examined 252 sediment samples obtained from 41 marine cores along the ancient Southern River, a prehistoric river system preserved beneath the seabed.
The technique used was ancient sedimentary DNA, known by the acronym sedaDNA, which allows for the recognition of genetic fragments left by plants and animals in sediment layers.
This type of analysis does not depend on the preservation of entire leaves, trunks, or seeds.
Fragments of genetic material can remain associated with sediments for long periods, provided that preservation conditions are adequate.
To reduce the risk of misinterpretation, scientists cross-referenced genetic data with sedimentological information and separated signals considered reliable from those that could have been displaced by water, erosion, or layer mixing.
In the deposits classified as most reliable, the study identified signs of Quercus, Ulmus, and Corylus, genera linked to oaks, elms, and hazels.
According to the University of Warwick, the presence of these groups more than 16,000 years ago indicates that parts of Doggerland had forested environments earlier than previous interpretations for Northwest Europe suggested.
Ancient DNA pointed to a relative of walnuts
Among the findings highlighted by the researchers is the identification of DNA attributed to the genus Pterocarya, a relative of walnuts.
The University of Warwick reports that this group was considered absent from Northwest Europe since the Hoxnian stage, approximately 400,000 years ago.
The available information does not allow for the identification of a specific species; the record refers to the arboreal genus detected in the sediments.
The research also found signs of Tilia, the genus of lime trees, about 2,000 years before the known record in continental areas of Great Britain.
As it is a tree associated with milder conditions, the authors link this presence to the possibility that Doggerland harbored more favorable local climatic areas during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene.
These environments are treated in the study as possible micro-refugia.
In the researchers’ interpretation, such areas help explain how certain trees would have recolonized northern Europe after the ice retreated.
If Doggerland already maintained temperate vegetation before the forest expansion recorded by pollen in other regions, the territory could have contributed to the subsequent dispersal of plant species.
Doggerland was more than a land bridge
Before being covered by the sea, Doggerland formed a landscape of plains, channels, rivers, wetlands, and elevations.
Digital models produced with seismic data from the North Sea have reconstructed nearly **46,620 square kilometers** of this submerged territory, according to educational material from National Geographic.
The region is also relevant for studies on human presence in the Mesolithic period.
Traces recovered from the seabed by fishermen, dredging, and archaeological research had already indicated occupation or circulation of hunter-gatherers.
The new survey adds environmental data to this interpretation, pointing to the existence of vegetation and habitats capable of sustaining animals and, potentially, human populations.
According to the University of Warwick, the presence of wooded environments in Doggerland 16,000 years ago may help explain gaps in the oldest Mesolithic remains found on dry land in Great Britain.
Some of these records may be preserved today beneath the North Sea, in sediments that still require specialized collection and analysis.
Sea level rise and Storegga tsunami changed Doggerland
The disappearance of Doggerland occurred gradually, as sea levels rose after the end of the last glaciation.
The melting of glaciers reduced the available area, fragmented low-lying plains, and transformed the ancient continental connection into a collection of islands, coastal margins, and lands increasingly exposed to flooding.
One of the events associated with this process was the **Storegga tsunami**, caused by a large submarine landslide off the coast of Norway approximately **8,150 years ago**.
Research on Doggerland indicates that the episode affected areas of northwestern Europe, but recent studies suggest that parts of the landscape may have remained above water for longer, until about **7,000 years ago**.
This interpretation alters the idea that the tsunami alone eliminated all remaining territory.
The scenario described by researchers involves a combination of gradual sea level rise, landscape fragmentation, and extreme flooding events.
Thus, the end of Doggerland is treated as a long-term process, with different impacts depending on the altitude and position of each area.
North Sea sediments record environmental changes
The research reinforces the role of marine sediments as a long-term environmental archive.
In the case of Doggerland, the layers preserved on the North Sea bed recorded signs of vegetation, habitat changes, and possible local survivals of plants that did not appear in traditional records of the region.
The use of ancient DNA also allows for the comparison of different sources of information.
While pollen remains important for environmental reconstructions, researchers state that sedaDNA can add more specific data about species and genera present in a landscape.
In Doggerland, this combination led to a different chronology for the arrival or permanence of temperate trees in northwestern Europe.
The ancient submerged land, therefore, is not treated merely as a lost area between Great Britain and continental Europe.
For the study’s authors, it gathers evidence on **environmental adaptation, species dispersal, and human occupation** during a period of accelerated sea level change.
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