Evolution of grassland ecosystems during the Late Miocene in the Eastern Mediterranean

东地中海晚中新世草原生态系统的演化

• 批准号: 314313855
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Madelaine Böhme
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Terrestrische Paläoklimatologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-31 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/314313855?language=en
• 关键词: Evolution; grassland; ecosystems; during; Late

The reconstruction of palaeovegetation is essentially based on palaeobotanical records and our understanding of the Neogene changes of vegetation in Eurasia dominantly rest upon organic floral remains, which has limited preservation due to diagenesis. As a result, many important aspects of landscape and vegetation history, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, are still poorly understood. In contrast, primarily siliceous plant fossils (phytoliths) show a high advantage to close our gaps of documentation and knowledge in Neogene vegetation history, because of their diagenetical durability especially under carbonate rich, alkaline and oxygenized conditions. Therefore, phytoliths often provide evidence for the presence of plants growing preferentially under xeric conditions and are not or only rarely documented in the macrobotanical or palynological record (e.g. grasses). Furthermore, phytoliths allow identifying plants to lower taxonomic levels than many pollen would (e.g. distinction of C3 and C4 grasses), thereby helping to resolve a more complete picture of floral and vegetation change, especially issues of grassland histories, in a certain region especially during the Neogene.In our project we perform high-resolution and multi-proxy studies on grassland ecosystem evolution during the Late Miocene (9-6 Ma) in the Eastern Mediterranean, using phytoliths in combinations with palynology, charcoal, carbon isotopy and sedimentology/pedology. Our preliminary results already show that C4-grasses play a major role in SE-European vegetation at least during the latest Tortonian (Pikermian Biome). Our project intend to disentangle the complex evolutionary history of grasslands and woodlands (including the role of fire) in this region, and will further provide unique contributions to the reconstruction of landscapes (vegetation) inhabited by the last Miocene hominids in Europe.

古植被的重建基本上是建立在古植物学记录的基础上，我们对欧亚大陆新近纪植被变化的认识主要依赖于有机植物的遗骸，由于成岩作用，这些植物的保存有限。因此，景观和植被历史的许多重要方面，特别是在东地中海，仍然知之甚少。相比之下，原生硅质植物化石（植物岩）由于其在富碳酸盐、碱性和氧化条件下的成岩耐久性，在填补新近系植被史的文献和知识空白方面具有很高的优势。因此，植物岩通常为在干旱条件下优先生长的植物的存在提供证据，而在宏观植物学或孢粉学记录中没有或很少有记录（例如草）。此外，与许多花粉相比，植物岩可以在较低的分类水平上识别植物（例如C3和C4禾草的区分），从而有助于更全面地了解植物和植被的变化，特别是新近纪某一地区的草地历史问题。在我们的项目中，我们对晚中新世（9-6 Ma）东地中海草原生态系统的演变进行了高分辨率和多代理研究，将植物岩与孢粉学，木炭学，碳同位素学和沉积学/土壤学相结合。我们的初步结果已经表明，至少在最新的托尔顿生物群（Pikermian Biome）中，c4 -禾本科在东南欧洲植被中起着主要作用。我们的项目旨在解开该地区草地和林地（包括火的作用）的复杂进化史，并将进一步为重建欧洲中新世晚期人类居住的景观（植被）提供独特的贡献。

项目成果

Neogene hyperaridity in Arabia drove the directions of mammalian dispersal between Africa and Eurasia

• DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00158-y
• 发表时间: 2021-05
• 期刊: Communications Earth & Environment
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: M. Böhme;N. Spassov;M. Majidifard;A. Gärtner;U. Kirscher;M. Marks;Christian A. F. Dietzel;Gregor Uhlig;H. El Atfy;D. Begun;M. Winklhofer

Late Miocene stratigraphy, palaeoclimate and evolution of the Sandanski Basin (Bulgaria) and the chronology of the Pikermian faunal changes

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.07.019
• 发表时间: 2018-11-01
• 期刊: GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Boehme, Madelaine;Van Baak, Christiaan G. C.;Spassov, Nikolai
• 通讯作者: Spassov, Nikolai