Cenozoic vegetation and climate change in Anatolia - A study based on the IPR-vegetation analysis

Reconstructions of past vegetation and climate are crucial for our understanding of regional palaeovegetation. In this study the regional palaeovegetational and palaeoclimatic properties of the late Oligocene and Miocene-Pliocene interval of Anatolia are presented using the Integrated Plant Record (IPR) vegetation analysis and the Coexistence Approach (CA). The IPR analysis allows the reconstruction of six types of zonal vegetation: broad-leaved deciduous forests, mixed mesophytic forests, broad-leaved evergreen forests, subhumid sclerophyllous forests, xeric open woodlands, and xeric grasslands or steppes all identified from the macro-microfloras of Anatolia. In the late Oligocene, warm subtropical and humid climatic conditions prevailed, and the palaeovegetation was represented by mixed mesophytic forests. From the late early-early middle Miocene to late middle Miocene temperature decreased slightly. Broad-leaved evergreen and mixed mesophytic forests and ecotones between these forests were the common zonal vegetation types in Anatolia during this period. According to these palaeoclimatic data based on pollen floras, it can be stated that the middle Miocene cooling affected the terrestrial areas of Anatolia. Besides, precipitation values of the late middle Miocene were slightly higher compared to the late early Miocene. Increasing precipitation rates can be interrelated with increasing humidity. Furthermore, low percentages of the sclerophyllous + legume-type components and a high percentage of the broad-leaved deciduous components support increased humidity in Anatolia during the late middle Miocene. Temperatures increased from the Tortonian to the beginning of the Messinian, and thereafter decreased significantly during the Messinian. Precipitation distinctly increased in Anatolia at the Mio-Pliocene transition. Moreover, palaeoclimatic and zonal vegetational changes in Anatolia during the late Miocene-Pliocene are first identified, and mixed mesophytic forests, ecotone between broad-leaved evergreen and mixed mesophytic forests, subhumid sclerophyllous forests, xeric open woodlands and zonal xeric grasslands or steppes vegetation type are recorded from this time interval. The cooling from the early to late Pliocene is recorded based on the numerical climatic values and the increase in the broad-leaved deciduous components.