A new global biome reconstruction and data‐model comparison for the Middle Pliocene

Aim To produce a robust, comprehensive global biome reconstruction for the Middle Pliocene (c. 3.6–2.6 Ma), which is based on an internally consistent palaeobotanical data set and a state-of-the-art coupled climate–vegetation model. The reconstruction gives a more rigorous picture of climate and environmental change during the Middle Pliocene and provides a new boundary condition for future general circulation model (GCM) studies. Location Global. Methods Compilation of Middle Pliocene vegetation data from 202 marine and terrestrial sites into the comprehensive GIS data base TEVIS (Tertiary Environmental Information System). Translation into an internally consistent classification scheme using 28 biomes. Comparison and synthesis of vegetation reconstruction from palaeodata with the outputs of the mechanistically based BIOME4 model forced by climatology derived from the HadAM3 GCM. Results The model results compare favourably with available palaeodata and highlight the importance of employing vegetation–climate feedbacks and the anomaly method in biome models. Both the vegetation reconstruction from palaeobotanical data and the BIOME4 prediction indicate a general warmer and moister climate for the Middle Pliocene. Evergreen taiga as well as temperate forest and grassland shifted northward, resulting in much reduced tundra vegetation. Warm-temperate forests (with subtropical taxa) spread in mid and eastern Europe and tropical savannas and woodland expanded in Africa and Australia at the expense of deserts. Discrepancies which occurred between data reconstruction and model simulation can be related to: (1) poor spatial model resolution and data coverage; (2) uncertainties in delimiting biomes using climate parameters; or (3) uncertainties in model physics and/or geological boundary conditions. Main conclusions The new global biome reconstruction combines vegetation reconstruction from palaeobotanical proxies with model simulations. It is an important contribution to the further understanding of climate and vegetation changes during the Middle Pliocene warm interval and will enhance our knowledge about how vegetation may change in the future.

[1]  P. Valdes,et al.  Tundra environments in the Neogene Sirius Group, Antarctica: evidence from the geological record and coupled atmosphere–vegetation models , 2007, Journal of the Geological Society.

[2]  P. Valdes,et al.  Vegetation cover in a warmer world simulated using a dynamic global vegetation model for the mid Pliocene , 2006 .

[3]  M. Wara,et al.  Permanent El Niño-Like Conditions During the Pliocene Warm Period , 2005, Science.

[4]  M. Macphail,et al.  Palynological evidence for aridity events and vegetation change during the Middle Pliocene, a warm period in Southwestern Australia , 2004 .

[5]  D. Lunt,et al.  Modelling Pliocene Warmth: Contribution of Atmosphere, Oceans and Cryosphere Revisited , 2004 .

[6]  P. Valdes,et al.  Global middle Pliocene biome reconstruction: A data/model synthesis , 2002 .

[7]  D. Pollard,et al.  A simple interactive vegetation model coupled to the GENESIS GCM , 2002 .

[8]  M. Cane,et al.  Closing of the Indonesian seaway as a precursor to east African aridification around 3–4 million years ago , 2001, Nature.

[9]  L. Sloan,et al.  Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present , 2001, Science.

[10]  P. Valdes,et al.  Global scale palaeoclimate reconstruction of the middle Pliocene climate using the UKMO GCM: initial results , 2000 .

[11]  U. Salzmann.  Are modern savannas degraded forests?-A Holocene pollen record from the Sudanian vagetation zone of NE Nigeria , 2000 .

[12]  J. Guiot,et al.  Climate and biomes in the West Mediterranean area during the Pliocene , 1999 .

[13]  R. Betts,et al.  The impact of new land surface physics on the GCM simulation of climate and climate sensitivity , 1999 .

[14]  Martin Wild,et al.  The radiative impact of a simple aerosol climatology on the Hadley Centre atmospheric GCM , 1998 .

[15]  L. Lourens,et al.  The Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) of the Piacenzian Stage (Middle Pliocene) , 1998 .

[16]  I. Prentice,et al.  The climate and biomes of Europe at 6000 yr BP: Comparison of model simulations and pollen-based reconstructions , 1998 .

[17]  V. Brovkin,et al.  Modelling global terrestrial vegetation–climate interaction , 1998 .

[18]  N. Noblet,et al.  Quantifying the role of biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks in climate change: coupled model simulations for 6000 years BP and comparison with palaeodata for northern Eurasia and northern Africa , 1997 .

[19]  V. Mosbrugger,et al.  The coexistence approach — a method for quantitative reconstructions of Tertiary terrestrial palaeoclimate data using plant fossils , 1997 .

[20]  D. Gregory,et al.  Parametrization of momentum transport by convection. II: Tests in single‐column and general circulation models , 1997 .

[21]  Susan E. Lee,et al.  Contrasting physiological and structural vegetation feedbacks in climate change simulations , 1997, Nature.

[22]  I. C. Prentice,et al.  BIOME3: An equilibrium terrestrial biosphere model based on ecophysiological constraints, resource availability, and competition among plant functional types , 1996 .

[23]  R. S. Thompson,et al.  Middle Pliocene vegetation: reconstructions, paleoclimatic inferences, and boundary conditions for climate modeling , 1996 .

[24]  D. Pollard,et al.  Modeling of middle Pliocene climate with the NCAR GENESIS general circulation model , 1996 .

[25]  T. Crowley.  Pliocene climates: the nature of the problem , 1996 .

[26]  A. Slingo,et al.  Studies with a flexible new radiation code. I: Choosing a configuration for a large-scale model , 1996 .

[27]  Maureen E. Raymo,et al.  Mid-Pliocene warmth: stronger greenhouse and stronger conveyor , 1996 .

[28]  R. S. Thompson,et al.  Joint investigations of the middle Pliocene climate II: GISS GCM Northern Hemisphere results , 1994 .

[29]  Robert S. Thompson,et al.  Joint investigations of the Middle Pliocene climate I: PRISM paleoenvironmental reconstructions , 1994 .

[30]  Robert S. Thompson,et al.  Micropaleontological Evidence for Increased Meridional Heat Transport in the North Atlantic Ocean During the Pliocene , 1992, Science.

[31]  W. Cramer,et al.  A global biome model based on plant physiology and dominance, soil properties and climate , 1992 .

[32]  D. Rind,et al.  Increased ocean heat transports and warmer climate , 1991 .

[33]  Harry J. Dowsett,et al.  High eustatic sea level during the middle Pliocene:Evidence from the southeastern U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain , 1990 .

[34]  R. Pascual,et al.  Evolving climates and mammal faunas in Cenozoic South America , 1990 .

[35]  W. Köppen,et al.  Die Klimate der Erde : Grundriss der Klimakunde , 1923 .

[36]  J. Webb,et al.  Karst evolution of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia , 2006 .

[37]  Wei-Ming Wang.  Correlation of pollen sequences in the Neogene palynofloristic regions of China , 2006 .

[38]  B. David,et al.  Palaeobiogeography of the Quaternary of Australasia , 2000 .

[39]  V. Pope,et al.  The impact of new physical parametrizations in the Hadley Centre climate model: HadAM3 , 2000 .

[40]  R. S. Thompson,et al.  Middle Pliocene paleoenvironmental reconstruction; PRISM2 , 1999 .

[41]  M. Macphail.  Late Neogene Climates in Australia: Fossil Pollen- and Spore-based Estimates in Retrospect and Prospect , 1997 .

[42]  Marie-Pierre Aubry,et al.  A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy , 1995 .

[43]  L. Dupont,et al.  Zanclean (~ Brunssumian) to early Piacenzian (~ early -middle Reuverian) climate from 4° to 54° north latitude (West Africa, West Europe and West Mediterranean areas. , 1995 .

[44]  Wolfgang Cramer,et al.  A simulation model for the transient effects of climate change on forest landscapes , 1993 .

[45]  A. Mix,et al.  Carbon isotope records from pacific surface waters and atmospheric carbon dioxide , 1992 .

[46]  R. S. Thompson,et al.  Pliocene climates of the Northern Hemisphere; abstracts of the joint US/USSR workshop on Pliocene paleoclimates, Moscow, USSR, April, 1990 , 1991 .

[47]  M. Zárate,et al.  The Plio-Pleistocene record of the central eastern Pampas, Buenos Aires province, Argentina: The Chapadmalal case study , 1989 .