Paleoenvironmental Dynamics and Vegetation Changes in the Cenozoic
Summary
The Cenozoic Era has witnessed profound shifts in climate, topography and plant communities over the past 66 million years, driven by tectonic reorganisations, orbital cycles and atmospheric composition. In the early Cenozoic, greenhouse conditions supported extensive tropical and subtropical forests across high latitudes, as evidenced by broadleaf fossil floras. Progressive global cooling at the Eocene–Oligocene transition led to the contraction of these warm-climate vegetation belts and the expansion of mixed deciduous and conifer forests, alongside emerging open habitats. The Miocene, punctuated by the Miocene Climatic Optimum and subsequent cooling, saw the rise of grass-dominated ecosystems, the development of modern savannahs and the first proliferation of C4 grasses. Uplift of major mountain chains altered regional precipitation patterns, promoting wetland succession and fostering biodiversity hotspots. In the Pliocene, further cooling and increased seasonality influenced vegetation mosaics, with temperate forests giving way to grasslands and shrublands in many regions. Through the Quaternary, repeated glacial–interglacial cycles drove rapid shifts in forest extent, the formation of refugial zones and biogeographical realignments. Modern tools—palynology, macrofossil analysis, leaf physiognomic proxies and vegetation modelling—have elucidated these dynamics, revealing global correlates of past CO2 levels, monsoon intensities and palaeohydrological regimes. Integration of multiple proxies has advanced our understanding of how past ecosystems responded to climatic and tectonic forcing, informing predictions of vegetation responses under future climate change.
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Paleoenvironmental Dynamics and Vegetation Changes in the Cenozoic publication trend
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Technical terms
Biomization: Method of assigning fossil plant assemblages to modern biome categories based on physiognomic and taxonomic traits.
Leaf physiognomy: Analysis of leaf margin and shape characteristics to infer palaeoclimatic variables such as temperature and precipitation.
Palynology: Study of fossil pollen and spores to reconstruct past vegetation and climate conditions.
Helophyte: Aquatic or semi-aquatic plant adapted to grow in water-logged substrates, indicating wetland environments.
Mesophytic forest: Forest type composed of taxa requiring moderate moisture, neither fully tropical nor xeric.
References
- Mapping the Late Miocene Pyrenean Forests of the La Cerdanya Basin, Spain. Forests (2023).
- Middle Miocene (Serravallian) wetland development on the northwest edge of Europe based on palynological analysis of the uppermost Brassington Formation of Derbyshire, United Kingdom. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology (2022).
- Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the late Miocene macroflora of La Bisbal d'Empordà (Catalonia, Spain). Comparison with small mammals. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (2022).
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