Vegetation and climate signal of the Middle Miocene plant record in Europe assessed by the IPR vegetation analysis
Abstract
In the Middle Miocene, the Langhian/Serravalian (16-11.6 m.a.) is the period of most pronounced climate changes in Europe. The Mid Miocene Climatic Optimum (around 15 m.a.) is usually interpreted as a period of mild and humid climate.
But various Fossil assemblages (plants, herpetofauna, mammals) from the Middle Miocene showed quite controversal proxies regarding palaeoenvironment and climate, e.g., Böhme et al. (2007), Utescher et al. (2007). Climate signals range from very humid (Bruch et al. 2011) to much drier climate compared to the preceding and later periods with seasonal strong drought, e.g., Böhme et al. (2011), Böhme & Vasilyan (2014).
We assume, that these interpretations followed quantitative methods in which sociological and ecological aspects were largely neglected. This contribution aims to reveal the Fossil plant record applying the IPR vegetation analysis (Kovar-Eder et al. 2008, Teodoridis et al. 2011) and includes taxonomic, sociological and ecological aspects to assess vegetation changes and to interpret them in terms of climate.