Woody dicot leaf traits as a palaeoclimate proxy: 100 years of development and application

Spicer, Robert A.; Yang, Jian; Spicer, Teresa E.V.; Farnsworth, Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110138

Cited by 36 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…Vegetation will develop growth strategies and architectures best suited for seasonally changing regimes. Leaf architectures preserved in the fossil record can be used by techniques, such as the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) (Spicer et al, 2020c), to quantitatively reconstruct surface temperature. Fortunately, seasonally deciduous plants have adaptations to increasing spring warmth as leaves expand, meaning that to some extent even the cold month mean temperatures can be derived despite the plant being dormant, although the depth of freezing may be underestimated in extremely cold winters (Spicer et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoclimate model-derived thermal lapse rates: Towards increasing precision in paleoaltimetry studies

Farnsworth

Valdes

Spicer

et al. 2021

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Quantifying how land surface height, such as that of the Tibetan region, has changed with time is crucial for understanding a range of Earth processes, including atmospheric dynamics, biotic evolution and tectonics. Elevation reconstructions are highly uncertain and controversial, in part because of assumptions used in their calculation. The largest uncertainties are in the choice of unconstrained thermal lapse rates. Thermal lapse rates are defined as a change in surface temperature with altitude and have long been used to estimate paleoelevation. If we know both the lapse rate and the temperature at two sites at different elevations, then in theory we can calculate their height difference. There are different types of lapse rates (Dry, Saturated, Environmental and Terrestrial), yet which is the most useful for paleoaltimetry is unknown. Previous paleoelevation studies have often used observed modernday global annual mean free air or terrestrial thermal lapse rates to measure elevation change, with the assumption that observed modern-day lapse rates are similar to those of the past. Here, using the HadCM3L paleoclimate model we demonstrate that Eocene global mean free air and terrestrial thermal lapse rates are not only different from the modern, but also show little predictive skill in reproducing prescribed model topography. Free-air lapse rates are largely insensitive to increased pCO 2 (showing only a decrease of ∼0.1-0.5 • C/km), whereas lapse rates at Earth's surface, the most applicable for fossil-based paleoaltimetry, differed significantly locally and globally in the past compared to the Preindustrial. This suggests that modern terrestrial lapse rate expressions are inappropriate for tracking altitude changes through geologic time. Moist processes and resultant moisture content of airmasses play a critical role in much of this uncertainty. The use of a wet-bulb temperature-derived lapse rate reduces this uncertainty significantly improving the predictive skill. Local terrestrial thermal lapse rates can be useful in paleoaltimetry, but only through climate model mediation where uncertainties can be reduced and quantified. Critically, paleoclimate models offer the opportunity to provide mean sea-level surface temperature to derive an elevation estimate where proxy-based values may not be available.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoclimate model-derived thermal lapse rates: Towards increasing precision in paleoaltimetry studies

Farnsworth

Valdes

Spicer

et al. 2021

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…We estimated the local palaeoclimatic conditions at the site using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) ( 17 , 18 ). A dataset of leaf characters was compiled from the macroflora collection of the Australian Museum (table S5).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lagerstätte from Australia provides insight into the nature of Miocene mesic ecosystems

et al. 2022

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“…Non-biting midges (Diptera, Chironomidae) remnants preserved in the sediments from the Pleistocene Holocene (11,650 Years BC-Present) are frequently used to reconstruct temperature patterns and climates of the past [29]. Majority of the Holocene and Pleistocene Chironomidae representatives, still exist in extant fauna which allows to reconstruct their climatic tolerance, using nearest living relative approach [29,47]. Reconstruction of the climate tolerance and ecology of the extinct animals is much less efficient proposition, and it's getting less and less efficient the deeper we go back in time [47].…”

Section: Implications Of the Findings For The Palaeoecological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Majority of the Holocene and Pleistocene Chironomidae representatives, still exist in extant fauna which allows to reconstruct their climatic tolerance, using nearest living relative approach [29,47]. Reconstruction of the climate tolerance and ecology of the extinct animals is much less efficient proposition, and it's getting less and less efficient the deeper we go back in time [47]. That is to say, fossil record of Chironomidae representatives from Jurassic is much less usefully for paleoclimate reconstruction than one from Pleistocene.…”

Section: Implications Of the Findings For The Palaeoecological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We think that a strong size-temperature rule detected here in Chironomidae can be used for physiognomic paleoclimate analysis. Physiognomic analysis is basing climate reconstruction on correspondence between morphological characteristics of the organisms and certain environmental variable [47]. We think that correspondence between Chironomidae wing length and temperature can provide a gateway for development of the trait library and software for analysis of the paleoclimate, based on Chironomidae fossils.…”

Section: Implications Of the Findings For The Palaeoecological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global Size Pattern in a Group of Important Ecological Indicators (Diptera, Chironomidae) Is Driven by Latitudinal Temperature Gradients

Baranov

Jourdan

Hunter-Moffatt

et al. 2021

Insects

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Size is one of the most outwardly obvious characteristics of animals, determined by multiple phylogenetic and environmental variables. Numerous hypotheses have been suggested to explain the relationship between the body size of animals and their geographic latitude. Bergmann’s Rule, describing a positive relationship between the body size of endothermic animals and their geographic latitude, is especially well known. Whether or not insects exhibit a similar pattern has long been a subject for debate. We hypothesize that latitudinal size gradients are coupled to temperature variation affecting the metabolic rate of these merolimnic insects. We showcase a strong latitudinal size gradient in non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae), based on the examination of 4309 specimens of these midges from around the world. Although phylogenetic position was a key predictor of wing length, we also found that wing length decreases by 32.4 µm per every 1 °C of mean annual temperature increase. This pattern was found across different taxa and could be detected in 20 of 24 genera studied. We discuss the reasons for this pattern origin and its palaeoecological implications.

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Woody dicot leaf traits as a palaeoclimate proxy: 100 years of development and application

Cited by 36 publications

References 128 publications

Paleoclimate model-derived thermal lapse rates: Towards increasing precision in paleoaltimetry studies

Paleoclimate model-derived thermal lapse rates: Towards increasing precision in paleoaltimetry studies

A Lagerstätte from Australia provides insight into the nature of Miocene mesic ecosystems

Global Size Pattern in a Group of Important Ecological Indicators (Diptera, Chironomidae) Is Driven by Latitudinal Temperature Gradients

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