Vegetation development in the Mediterranean region through the Cenozoic

The Mediterranean region (MR) is one of the richest plant biodiversity hotspots in the world and one of the most vulnerable regions in view of predicted climate and past tectonic and climate changes.

This project will address three evolutionary topics linked to vegetation development in the MR during the Cenozoic:The floristic exchange between floras of the MR and western North America,The floristic regionalization in the MR, andThe timing of the appearance of modern Mediterranean vegetation.To address these topics, leaf fossil assemblages across the MR will be revised taxonomically in a collaborative effort to establish standardized taxonomy and to determine biogeographic affinities of their components.

Three clusters of leaf assemblages will be investigated, a late Eocene-early Oligocene, late Oligocene-early Miocene, and a late Miocene cluster.

Patterns of regionalisation of the flora during the Cenozoic will be established using the Raup-Crick similarity index and geographic and temporal biogeographic patterns compared to tectonic and climatic changes.

Further, a pilot study investigating endophagous insect herbivory will test a hypothesis about galling and mining frequency being indicators of aridity and increased temperature.

Investigating the palaeobotanical record in the MR therefore contributes disproportionally to a better understanding of responses of plants to rapidly changing environments, helping us predict future changes in plant communities.