Elevation‐induced climate change as a dominant factor causing the late Miocene C4 plant expansion in the Himalayan foreland
Elevation‐induced climate change as a dominant factor causing the late Miocene C4 plant expansion in the Himalayan foreland
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DOI：
10.1111/gcb.12426
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发表时间：
2014-05
影响因子：
11.6
通讯作者：
Haibin Wu;Zhengtang Guo;J. Guiot;C. Hatté;C. Peng;Yanyan Yu;J. Ge;Qin Li;A. Sun;Deai Zhao
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Haibin Wu;Zhengtang Guo;J. Guiot;C. Hatté;C. Peng;Yanyan Yu;J. Ge;Qin Li;A. Sun;Deai Zhao
在中新世晚期，C4植物的分布发生了巨大的全球扩张，具有广泛的空间和时间变化。虽然这一事件有很好的记录，但随后的扩张是由大气中二氧化碳浓度下降还是气候变化引起的，这是一个有争议的问题。在这项研究中，我们使用了一种改进的逆植被建模方法，占C3和C4植物的生理反应，定量重建的古气候在尼泊尔西瓦利克花粉和碳同位素数据的基础上。我们还研究了C3和C4植物对气候和大气CO2浓度变化的敏感性。我们认为，在中新世晚期的C4植物分布的扩大可能主要是由区域干旱化和温度升高。这种扩张不太可能仅仅是由二氧化碳水平降低引起的。我们的研究结果表明，这种突然的生态转变主要是由于气候变化有关的喜马拉雅前陆海拔下降。
During the late Miocene, a dramatic global expansion of C4 plant distribution occurred with broad spatial and temporal variations. Although the event is well documented, whether subsequent expansions were caused by a decreased atmospheric CO2 concentration or climate change is a contentious issue. In this study, we used an improved inverse vegetation modeling approach that accounts for the physiological responses of C3 and C4 plants to quantitatively reconstruct the paleoclimate in the Siwalik of Nepal based on pollen and carbon isotope data. We also studied the sensitivity of the C3 and C4 plants to changes in the climate and the atmospheric CO2 concentration. We suggest that the expansion of the C4 plant distribution during the late Miocene may have been primarily triggered by regional aridification and temperature increases. The expansion was unlikely caused by reduced CO2 levels alone. Our findings suggest that this abrupt ecological shift mainly resulted from climate changes related to the decreased elevation of the Himalayan foreland.