Modern vegetation proxies reflect Palaeogene and Neogene vegetation evolution and climate change in Europe, Turkey, and Armenia
Abstract
Recently two tools, Drudge 1 and 2, were introduced to more easily assess modern vegetation proxies for the fossil record based on three similarities: the Integrated Plant Record (IPR) Similarity assessing the similarity between fossil assemblages and modern vegetation based on the proportion of major zonal angiosperm components; the Taxonomic Similarity (TS) reflecting the similarity based on the coincidence of genera among the fossil record and modern vegetation; and the combination of both similarities (Results Mix). In this paper, we apply Drudge 1 and 2 to 54 fossil plant assemblages from Europe, Turkey, and Armenia covering the timespan from the early Eocene to the Pleistocene.
For every fossil plant assemblage, a set of 25 proxies (modern vegetation units) is derived by the Drudges, reflecting its physiognomy and floristic composition. The results for all fossil plant assemblages feature the overall vegetation evolution and climate change in Europe, Turkey, and Armenia providing deeper insight into the relationships of the fossil record to the modern Asian and European vegetation.
This study strives to provide an improved understanding of the Palaeogene/Neogene vegetation evolution in Europe and Asia beyond the community of specialists. Our results can help model future scenarios.
They also improve our understanding of how climate change may effect vegetation and more broadly ecosystems as a whole.