Palaeoclimate Estimates for Selected Leaf Floras from the Late Pliocene (Reuverian) of Central Europe Based on Different Palaeobotanical Techniques

Abstract

To provide quantitative palaeoclimate estimates based on different palaeobotanical techniques for three contemporaneous Pliocene leaf floras, we applied the Coexistence Approach (CoA), leaf margin analysis (LMA), the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) and the European Leaf Physiognomic Approach (ELPA). Furthermore, we compared recently published estimates from an additional locality with our data. The leaf physiognomic techniques yield lower mean annual temperatures than the CoA, which is most likely caused by taphonomic biases. Due to these potential biases we are in favour of the CoA as the most reliable method, and its palaeotemperature estimates show similar temperatures for all localities. These estimates are also in good agreement with previously published data derived from other techniques for other Late Pliocene floras from Western and Central Europe. No longitudinal/latitudinal temperature gradient can be observed for the sites under study.