“…Paleoecological records indicate that warm, humid and seasonal climates would have been common in southwestern China at least from the middle-late Miocene 44 – 47 , which emphasizes, or perhaps underlines, the long-term stability of climatic conditions as a sine qua non for relict species survival. In contrast, the absence of such favorable climatic conditions for the thermophilic, moisture-loving, and mesophytic relict lineages throughout time in other parts of East Asia, but also in Europe and North America, caused their local extinction 5 , 48 – 50 . Fig.…”
Today East Asia harbors many “relict” plant species whose ranges were much larger during the Paleogene-Neogene and earlier. The ecological and climatic conditions suitable for these relict species have not been identified. Here, we map the abundance and distribution patterns of relict species, showing high abundance in the humid subtropical/warm-temperate forest regions. We further use Ecological Niche Modeling to show that these patterns align with maps of climate refugia, and we predict species’ chances of persistence given the future climatic changes expected for East Asia. By 2070, potentially suitable areas with high richness of relict species will decrease, although the areas as a whole will probably expand. We identify areas in southwestern China and northern Vietnam as long-term climatically stable refugia likely to preserve ancient lineages, highlighting areas that could be prioritized for conservation of such species.
“…Paleoecological records indicate that warm, humid and seasonal climates would have been common in southwestern China at least from the middle-late Miocene 44 – 47 , which emphasizes, or perhaps underlines, the long-term stability of climatic conditions as a sine qua non for relict species survival. In contrast, the absence of such favorable climatic conditions for the thermophilic, moisture-loving, and mesophytic relict lineages throughout time in other parts of East Asia, but also in Europe and North America, caused their local extinction 5 , 48 – 50 . Fig.…”
Today East Asia harbors many “relict” plant species whose ranges were much larger during the Paleogene-Neogene and earlier. The ecological and climatic conditions suitable for these relict species have not been identified. Here, we map the abundance and distribution patterns of relict species, showing high abundance in the humid subtropical/warm-temperate forest regions. We further use Ecological Niche Modeling to show that these patterns align with maps of climate refugia, and we predict species’ chances of persistence given the future climatic changes expected for East Asia. By 2070, potentially suitable areas with high richness of relict species will decrease, although the areas as a whole will probably expand. We identify areas in southwestern China and northern Vietnam as long-term climatically stable refugia likely to preserve ancient lineages, highlighting areas that could be prioritized for conservation of such species.
“…The genus is currently a constituent of warm‐temperate forest vegetation in Southeast China (Farjon, ) and is considered as a sensitive tool for inferring climate conditions (Saito et al, ). A continuous reduction of “Tertiary relicts” has been recognized at this stage (Saito, ); some of them tend to disappear earlier in the north and later in the south during the Pliocene–Pleistocene across the Japanese Islands (Momohara, ).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The southern limit of its distribution is not well understood. Nevertheless, T. dolabrata fossils have been recorded from the interglacial periods during the early to middle Pleistocene in central Kinki (Momohara, ), where it was associated with Cryptomeria japonica , Sciadopitys verticillata , and Chamaecyparis obtusa . Therefore, this species is assumed to adapted to cooler‐ to middle‐temperate climates like its modern counterpart.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For Cunninghamia, the broken line was drawn based on the spread of this genus from the Russian Far-East. Forest types (after Wolfe, 1979) periods during the early to middle Pleistocene in central Kinki (Momohara, 2016), where it was associated with Cryptomeria japonica, Sciadopitys verticillata, and Chamaecyparis obtusa. Therefore, this species is assumed to adapted to cooler-to middle-temperate climates like its modern counterpart.…”
Section: Trends In the Endemic Conifers Remained Extant In Japanmentioning
Temporal and spatial changes of ten conifer genera that are endemic to East Asia were analyzed based on fossil data from humid temperate forests in the Japanese Islands and Korean Peninsula to elucidate the phytogeographic history, and to understand differences between those genera eliminated from the Japanese Islands and those that remained extant. All these genera, except for Thujopsis, have existed in the area since the Paleogene and remained in the Japanese islands after initial separation from the continent at the early–middle Miocene. Fossil representatives of locally extinct six genera have tendencies to adapt to wider ranges of climatic conditions than their modern relatives. Metasequoia, Glyptostrobus, and Taiwania began to change their distributions since the late Miocene possibly through habitat partitioning. Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Cunninghamia appeared to have expanded their habitat toward warmer conditions during the mid‐Miocene Climatic Optimum and then became restricted to warmer forest vegetation by the end of Pliocene. Overall changes in their distribution can be explained by climatic effects. On the contrary, three genera endemic to Japan (Sciadopitys, Cryptomeria, and Thujopsis) followed clearly different trends from the others. Cryptomeria and Thujopsis were especially adapted to cooler‐temperate climate and they retained their habitat areas in the northern part of Japan. During the late Miocene–Pliocene, the islands connected with the Eurasian continent again, which probably acted as a corridor for warm‐adapted genera to disperse southwest. Current data suggest that ecological requirements of each genus might be essential to determine whether they could survive on the Japanese Islands.
“…Middle Pleistocene. The horizon of the locality is associated with the Ma9 Marine Clay Bed (Momohara 2015), which is associated with the marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 11 (0.424-0.374 million years ago (Ma)) of the middle Pleistocene (Yoshikawa & Mitamura 1999).…”
We described the external morphology of a fossil insect gall collected from the middle Pleistocene sediment in the Osaka Group of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. The fossil was well preserved without major compression and was identified as a gall induced by an aphid species of the genus Nipponaphis (Nipponaphidini: Hormaphidinae: Aphididae), based on its external morphology. This is the first reliable fossil record of an Aphididae gall. This fossil provides evidence that the intimate aphid–plant association can be traced back to the middle Pleistocene, approximately 0.4 million years ago.
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