Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Measuring and Mapping Patterns of Soil Erosion and Deposition Related to Soil Carbonate Concentrations Under Agricultural Management
Published on: September 12, 2017
A continuous climatic impact on Holocene human population in the Rocky Mountains
Robert L Kelly1, Todd A Surovell, Bryan N Shuman
1Department of Anthropology and Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82070, USA. rlkelly@uwyo.edu
Abstract:
Ancient cultural changes have often been linked to abrupt climatic events, but the potential that climate can exert a persistent influence on human populations has been debated. Here, independent population, temperature, and moisture history reconstructions from the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming (United States) show a clear quantitative relationship spanning 13 ka, which explains five major periods of population growth/decline and ~45% of the population variance. A persistent ~300-y lag in the human demographic response conforms with either slow (~0.3%) intrinsic annual population growth rates or a lag in the environmental carrying capacity, but in either case, the population continuously adjusted to changing environmental conditions.
Related Concept Videos
Global Climate Change
Threats to Biodiversity
Microbes and Climate Change
What is Climate?
The Carbon Cycle
Habitat Fragmentation

