Global biome patterns of the Middle and Late Pleistocene

• Published in: Journal of Biogeography
• Main Authors: Huntley, Brian, Allen, Judy R. M., Forrest, Matthew, Hickler, Thomas, Ohlemüller, Ralf, Singarayer, Joy S., Valdes, Paul J.
• Other Authors: Leverhulme Trust
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2023
• Subjects: ice core
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14619; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jbi.14619

Abstract Our primary aim was to assess the hypothesis that distinctive features of the patterns of vegetation change during successive Quaternary glacial–interglacial cycles reflect climatic differences arising from forcing differences. We addressed this hypothesis using 207 half‐degree resolution global biome pattern simulations, for time slices between 800 and 2 ka, made using the LPJ‐GUESS dynamic global vegetation model. Simulations were driven using ice‐core atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, Earth's obliquity, and outputs from a pre‐industrial and 206 palaeoclimate experiments; four additional simulations were driven using projected future CO 2 concentrations. Climate experiments were run using HadCM3. Using a rule‐based approach, above‐ground biomass and leaf area index of LPJ‐GUESS plant functional types were used to infer each grid cell's biome. The hypothesis is supported by the palaeobiome simulations. To enable comparisons with the climatic forcing, multivariate analyses were performed of global vegetation pattern dissimilarities between simulations. Results showed generally similar responses to glacial–interglacial climatic variations during each cycle, although no two interglacials or glacials had identical biome patterns. Atmospheric CO 2 concentration was the strongest driver of the dissimilarity patterns. Dissimilarities relative to the time slice with the lowest atmospheric CO 2 concentration show the log‐linear relationship to atmospheric CO 2 concentration expected of an index of ecocarbon sensitivity. For each simulation, extent and total above‐ground biomass of each biome were calculated globally and for three longitudinal segments corresponding to the major continental regions. Mean and minimum past extents of forest biomes, notably Temperate Summergreen Forest, in the three major continental regions strongly parallel relative tree diversities, hence supporting the hypothesis that past biome extents played an important role in determining present diversity. Albeit that they reflect the ...