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.

古植被重建的基础是古植物记录，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化石，由于成岩作用，这些化石保存有限。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，主要是硅质植物化石（植硅体）显示出很高的优势，以弥补我们的文件和知识的差距，在新近纪植被历史，因为他们的成岩耐久性，特别是在碳酸盐丰富，碱性和氧化条件下。因此，植硅体通常提供了在干旱条件下优先生长的植物的存在的证据，并且在宏观植物学或孢粉学记录中没有或很少记录（例如草）。此外，植硅体允许识别植物，以降低分类水平比许多花粉（例如C3和C4草的区别），从而有助于更全面地了解植物和植被变化，特别是草原历史问题，本项目对晚中新世（9- 10年）草原生态系统演化进行了高分辨率、多指标的研究。6 Ma）在东地中海，使用植硅体结合孢粉学，木炭，碳同位素和沉积学/土壤学。我们的初步研究结果已经表明，C4-草发挥了重要作用，至少在最新的Tortonian（Pikermian生物群系）在东南欧植被。我们的项目旨在解开这一地区草原和林地（包括火的作用）复杂的进化历史，并将进一步为重建欧洲最后一批中新世原始人居住的景观（植被）做出独特的贡献。

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