On the use of micromammals for paleoenvironmental reconstruction: Qesem Cave as a case study

Micromammals have been used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions for decades, mostly by relying on current species habitat requirements. Recently, two new approaches have been proposed: the Coexistence Approach, which relies on species lists and quantitatively assesses the range of environmental variables in each species’ modern distribution, and the Weighted Averaging Partial Least Squares (WAPLS), which relies on relative abundances and requires a training set (reference sample) of modern assemblages from known environments. WAPLS reconstructs a single predefined environmental variable, which is known a-priori to impact the fauna in question. In the Mediterranean Levant, previous studies showed that vegetation density (from grasslands