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Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary

Nature volume 389, pages 153–158 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Between 8 and 6 million years ago, there was a global increase in the biomass of plants using C4 photosynthesis as indicated by changes in the carbon isotope ratios of fossil tooth enamel in Asia, Africa, North America and South America. This abrupt and widespread increase in C4 biomass may be related to a decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations below a threshold that favoured C3-photosynthesizing plants. The change occurred earlier at lower latitudes, as the threshold for C3 photosynthesis is higher at warmer temperatures.

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Figure 1: Histograms of δ13C for modern grasses (compiled from 5–8, and unpublished University of Utah data), modern tooth enamel, and fossil tooth enamel <8 Myr.
Figure 2: Changes in δ13C of equid and some other hypsodont mammals in the Neogene.
Figure 3: δ13C of modern and fossil Equus versus latitude (all samples below 2,000 m elevation); we include data from Thackarey and Lee-Thorp45 and data from Fig. 2.
Figure 4: Results of a model for predicting C3/C4 dominance of grasses related to temperature and partial pressure of CO2 according to which photosynthetic pathway has the greater quantum yield; here ‘temperature’ is the daytime growing-season temperature.

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Acknowledgements

We thank W. Akersten, R. Anderson, T. M. Bown, J. D. Bryant, B. Engesser, J. Fleagle, J. A. Hart, J. Hearst, H. Hutchison, L. L. Jacobs, E. H. Lindsay, E. L. Lundelius, H. G. McDonald, N. Mudida, M. Voorhies, A. Walker, D. Whistler, D. Winkler and M. O. Woodburne for assistance in obtaining samples. We also thank J. Kappelman and G. Farquhar for comments. This work was supported by the US NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, Utah, USA

    Thure E. Cerling

  2. George C. Page Museum, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90036, California, USA

    John M. Harris

  3. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611, Florida, USA

    Bruce J. MacFadden

  4. The National Museums of Kenya, PO Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya

    Meave G. Leakey

  5. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Jay Quade

  6. Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Museé National d'Histoire Naturelle, 8 rue de Buffon, Paris, 75005, France

    Vera Eisenmann

  7. Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, Utah, USA

    James R. Ehleringer

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Correspondence to Thure E. Cerling.

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Cerling, T., Harris, J., MacFadden, B. et al. Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. Nature 389, 153–158 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/38229

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