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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Fire and fire-adapted vegetation promoted C
4
expansion in the late Miocene
New Phytologist, Volume 195, No. 3, Year 2012
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Description
Large proportions of the Earth's land surface are covered by biomes dominated by C 4 grasses. These C 4-dominated biomes originated during the late Miocene, 3-8 million years ago (Ma), but there is evidence that C 4 grasses evolved some 20Ma earlier during the early Miocene/Oligocene. Explanations for this lag between evolution and expansion invoke changes in atmospheric CO 2, seasonality of climate and fire. However, there is still no consensus about which of these factors triggered C 4 grassland expansion. We use a vegetation model, the adaptive dynamic global vegetation model (aDGVM), to test how CO 2, temperature, precipitation, fire and the tolerance of vegetation to fire influence C 4 grassland expansion. Simulations are forced with late Miocene climates generated with the Hadley Centre coupled ocean-atmosphere-vegetation general circulation model. We show that physiological differences between the C 3 and C 4 photosynthetic pathways cannot explain C 4 grass invasion into forests, but that fire is a crucial driver. Fire-promoting plant traits serve to expand the climate space in which C 4-dominated biomes can persist. We propose that three mechanisms were involved in C 4 expansion: the physiological advantage of C 4 grasses under low atmospheric CO 2 allowed them to invade C 3 grasslands; fire allowed grasses to invade forests; and the evolution of fire-resistant savanna trees expanded the climate space that savannas can invade. © 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust.
Authors & Co-Authors
Scheiter, Simon
Germany, Frankfurt am Main
Senckenberg Gesellschaft Für Naturforschung
Higgins, Steven Ian
Germany, Frankfurt am Main
Goethe-universität Frankfurt am Main
Osborne, Colin P.
United Kingdom, Sheffield
The University of Sheffield
Bradshaw, Catherine D.C.
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
Lunt, Daniel J.
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
Ripley, Brad S.
South Africa, Grahamstown
Rhodes University
Taylor, Lyla L.
United Kingdom, Sheffield
The University of Sheffield
Beerling, David J.
United Kingdom, Sheffield
The University of Sheffield
Statistics
Citations: 145
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04202.x
ISSN:
0028646X
e-ISSN:
14698137