Editing Holocene extinction (section)

=== Eurasia ===
{{See also|List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene|List of European animals extinct in the Holocene}}
[[File:Ice age fauna of northern Spain - Mauricio Antón.jpg|thumb|Many giant mammals such as [[woolly mammoth]]s, [[woolly rhinoceros]]es, and [[Panthera spelaea|cave lions]] inhabited the mammoth steppe during the Pleistocene.]]
Unlike other continents, the megafauna of Eurasia went extinct over a relatively long period of time, possibly due to climate fluctuations fragmenting and decreasing populations, leaving them vulnerable to over-exploitation, as with the [[steppe bison]] (''Bison priscus'').<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pushkina|first1=D.|last2=Raia|first2=P.|year=2008|title=Human influence on distribution and extinctions of the late Pleistocene Eurasian megafauna|journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]]|volume=54|issue=6|pages=769–782|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.024|pmid=18199470|bibcode=2008JHumE..54..769P }}</ref> The warming of the arctic region caused the rapid decline of grasslands, which had a negative effect on the grazing megafauna of Eurasia. Most of what once was [[mammoth steppe]] was converted to [[mire]], rendering the environment incapable of supporting them, notably the [[woolly mammoth]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mann|first1=Daniel H.|last2=Groves|first2=Pamela|last3=Reanier|first3=Richard E.|last4=Gaglioti|first4=Benjamin V.|last5=Kunz|first5=Michael L.|last6=Shapiro|first6=Beth|year=2015|title=Life and extinction of megafauna in the ice-age Arctic|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]|volume=112|issue=46|pages=14301–14306|bibcode=2015PNAS..11214301M|doi=10.1073/pnas.1516573112|pmc=4655518|pmid=26578776|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, all these megafauna had survived previous interglacials with the same or more intense warming, suggesting that even during warm periods, refugia may have existed and that human hunting may have been the critical factor for their extinction.

In the western Mediterranean region, anthropogenic forest degradation began around 4,000 BP, during the Chalcolithic, and became especially pronounced during the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] era. The reasons for the decline of forest ecosystems stem from agriculture, grazing, and mining.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gil-García |first1=María José |last2=Ruiz-Zapata |first2=Blanca |last3=Ortiz |first3=José E. |last4=Torres |first4=Trinidad |last5=Ros |first5=Milagros |last6=Ramallo |first6=Sebastián |last7=López-Cilla |first7=Ignacio |last8=Galán |first8=Luis A. |last9=Sánchez-Palencia |first9=Yolanda |last10=Manteca |first10=Ignacio |last11=Rodríguez-Estrella |first11=Tomás |last12=Blázquez |first12=Ana |last13=Gómez-Borrego |first13=Ángeles |date=1 March 2022 |title=Paleoenvironmental variability and anthropic influence during the last 7300 years in the western Mediterranean based on the pollen record of Cartagena Bay, SE Spain |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=589 |page=110839 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110839 |bibcode=2022PPP...58910839G |access-date=15 January 2023 |hdl=20.500.12466/3874 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116090113/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the twilight years of the [[Western Roman Empire]], forests in northwestern Europe rebounded from losses incurred throughout the Roman period, though deforestation on a large scale resumed once again around 800 BP, during the [[High Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=C. |last2=Penaud |first2=A. |last3=Vidal |first3=M. |last4=Gandini |first4=C. |last5=Labeyrie |first5=L. |last6=Chavaud |first6=L. |last7=Ehrhold |first7=A. |date=15 December 2020 |title=Striking forest revival at the end of the Roman Period in north-western Europe |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=21984 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77253-1 |pmid=33319781 |pmc=7738505 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1021984L }}</ref>

In southern China, human land use is believed to have permanently altered the trend of vegetation dynamics in the region, which was previously governed by temperature. This is evidenced by high fluxes of charcoal from that time interval.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Zhongjing |last2=Weng |first2=Chengyu |last3=Steinke |first3=Stephan |last4=Mohtadi |first4=Mahyar |date=29 October 2018 |title=Anthropogenic modification of vegetated landscapes in southern China from 6,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=939–943 |doi=10.1038/s41561-018-0250-1 |bibcode=2018NatGe..11..939C |s2cid=133729236 |access-date=11 April 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412055339/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |url-status=live }}</ref>