Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42607189›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

Postglacial ecosystem development of a hydrothermal landscape in Yellowstone National Park.

Cathy Whitlock, Christopher M Schiller, Steven W Hostetler, Shaul Hurwitz, Mio Alt, Sabrina R Brown, Lauren N Harrison, Jay R Alder, Kailey Busch, Jake Shelly and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Cathy WhitlockDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717.ORCID 0000-0002-1585-1209
Christopher M SchillerBurke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
Steven W HostetlerCollege of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331.
Shaul HurwitzCalifornia Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey, Moffett Field, CA 94035.
Mio AltDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717.
Sabrina R BrownNiswander Department of Biology, Manchester University, North Manchester, IN 46845.
Lauren N HarrisonDepartment of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523.
Jay R AlderU.S. Geological Survey, Corvallis, OR 97331.ORCID 0000-0003-2378-2853
Kailey BuschDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717.
Jake ShellyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717.
David B McWethyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717.ORCID 0000-0003-3879-4865

Funding

NSF (NSF) EAR-2149482
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Yellowstone geo-ecosystem has been the subject of much research, but the ecological history of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field and its iconic geyser basins is less known. In this investigation, paleoenvironmental analyses of sediment cores from lakes in Lower Geyser Basin were compared with regional records and paleoclimate model simulations to reconstruct the vegetation, wildfire, limnology, hydrothermal dynamics, and climate drivers since deglaciation, 15,000 to 14,000 years ago. Pollen data from Lower Geyser Basin lakes reveal the strong influence of infertile rhyolitic soils on vegetation history: an initial late-glacial steppe was replaced by lodgepole pine forest from 12.8 to 11.0 ka, with little change in forest composition or cover thereafter despite changing climate. This stability contrasts with the more dynamic vegetation response on nonrhyolite substrates in the Yellowstone region where nutrient and moisture availability is greater. Highest wildfire activity and low lake nutrient levels in Lower Geyser Basin occurred from 12 to 4 ka, when summers were substantially warmer and drier and fire-inducing vapor pressure deficits were 29 to 56% higher. The hydrothermal history, inferred from sedimentary arsenic and cesium abundances, was spatially and temporally variable but lake-forming hydrothermal events align with periods of abundant moisture. Thus, long-term changes in wildfire, limnology, and, to some extent, hydrothermal activity were governed by insolation-driven climate variations, whereas the vegetation response was muted and constrained by geologic processes. These findings suggest that warmer, drier conditions in the future could result in less hydrothermal activity yet little change in forest cover across the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field despite more wildfires.

Indexed as

geyser basinHolocene historypaleoclimatepollenYellowstone

Identifiers

PMID42607189
PMCPMC13534540

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.