Climatic Perspective Research Articles

Explaining the causes of the zoogeographic transition around the Isthmus of Kra: using bats as a case study

Aim The causes of a zoogeographic divide in peninsular Thailand around the Isthmus of Kra have not been adequately resolved. We explored climatic, historical and geological perspectives to gain insights into factors that may have contributed to the development and maintenance of this zoogeographic transition, and to determine whether a faunal transition occurs for bats. Location Southeast Asia, focusing on the Thai Peninsula. Methods Spatial principal components analysis was used to determine the relationship between climate and species distribution patterns. We studied bats (order Chiroptera) because of their ability to bypass small-scale geophysical barriers. Spatial data on bat species distributions on the Thai Peninsula were analysed in relation to multivariate measures of climate to determine the possible influence of climatic zonation on distribution patterns. We assessed the effects of the interaction of climatic zonation with the highly dynamic environmental conditions the area has undergone in relation to species distribution patterns. Results A zoogeographic transition was found, with 44 species (out of 127) restricted to the north of the Isthmus of Kra and 29 restricted to the south, although there were relatively few abrupt changes in distribution at the exact position of the isthmus. Northern and southern species were associated with specific climatic conditions. Major transitions in the distribution of bat species exist at 6–6.5° N and 13–13.5° N, with a smaller peak at 11.0° N. These major peaks fall in the same areas as the borders of climatic zones, and the 6–6.5° N peak falls in the same area as a floristic divide (the Kangar–Pattani Line). Main conclusions On the mainland, climatic zones cause gradual changes in species distributions. However, in addition to climatic factors, repeated changes in the breadth of the Sunda Shelf during recent glacial cycles may have caused locally high extinction rates at narrow points on the peninsula, exacerbating transitions in species distribution patterns along the region, in the context of a peninsula effect that reduces opportunities for recolonization.

Dendrochronology of lianas of the Leguminosae family from the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Information about plant growth, development and age forms the basis for understanding complex forest ecological processes. Although lianas play an important role in tropical forests, little is known about their growth and development from either climatic or ecological perspectives. Therefore, we studied the growth rings in Legume liana species collected in a mountainous Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. Four of the eight studied species did not show cambial variants, three had a lobed stem, and one had a furrowed xylem. Distinct growth rings were observed in all species. Semi-ring porosity, marginal parenchyma, fibrous zone and radially flattened latewood cells were the main characteristic features of these growth rings. Species without cambial variants, including Dalbergia frutescens, Piptadenia adiantoides, P. micracantha and Senegalia tenuifolia, showed very distinct growth rings visible in macroscopic and microscopic analysis. Ring-width time series and cambial wound assessment were performed to analyze periodicity and dendrochronology. The species with cambial variants, S. grandistipula, S. lacerans, S. martiusiana and S. pedicellata, also showed distinct growth rings, however, sometimes barely detectable or not detected at all. Cambial wounding, cross-dating and climate-growth relationships indicated the annual nature of growth rings in species without cambial variant. Cross-dating between radii within one individual and between individuals was successful, and the synchronized series enabled us to build species chronologies and a mean chronology. Climate-growth analysis revealed significant correlations between chronologies and precipitation, indicating that available moisture is the main factor determining growth rates of lianas in the Atlantic forest.

Policy challenges towards potential climate change impacts: in search of agro-climate stability.

This study focuses on climate-related vulnerability for Malaysian agriculture. We use an analysis of impacts based on observational records of inter-annual variability in precipitation and warming climatic factors. The assessment involved General Circulation Models (GCMs) together with the Stern Review study to represent a range of plausible climate scenarios and economic outcomes. This study investigates the major Malaysian agricultural sectors such as food crops (that is, rice) and cash or industrial crops (i.e. palm oil and rubber) under a climatic and economic perspective, quantifying the merits of the projected simulation and presenting an insight into the nature of the overall subject of suitability of adaptation options. These analyses signify the likely future changes to agriculture, potential strategies to reduce vulnerabilities and reveal adaptation requirements for agriculture. The findings of this study can be used for climate-related national policy on agriculture in Malaysia.

A methodology of tracking transitioning Cyclones

"Cyclone transition" is a process in which either a tropical cyclone or an extratropical cyclone undergoes a fundamental dynamic and thermodynamic transformation. A "tropical transition" is a process in which a cold-core extratropical cyclone transforms to a warm-core tropical cyclone, while "extratropical transition" refers to the opposite mechanism. The transition process is gradual, with no sharp defining threshold representing its commencement or completion. This study develops and explores a methodology of identifying tropical transition and extratropical transition events. Using the 1.5° ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset over the period from 1989 to present, cyclone tracks are derived using The Melbourne University Tracking Scheme. The average temperature difference between the cyclone core and an environmental ring, set at a distance corresponding to the cyclones size, is then calculated throughout the troposphere during the life cycle of the cyclone. This difference represents the index or phase of the cyclone relative to its immediate environment. The lack of a complete cyclone transition climatology and the uncertainty behind the transition process is the motivation for this research, with the overarching aim of placing these systems in climatic perspective. This methodology seeks to create the foundations for further cyclone research.

Indiscriminate devegetation under improper farming system: a root cause for surface and underground water and food crisis in Ethiopia

Deforestation has caused surface and underground water imbalance in the hydrologic cycle followed by subsequent food, feed and wood productivity crisis. This paper reviews the role of traditional farming systems in wet and dry agroecology. It further compares it with existing improper farming practice, which productivity is examined from agroecology based climatic and edaphic perspective. Experiments were carried out to determine the amount of rainfall intercepted by dominant trees on farm, namely by Cordia africana, Afrocarpus falcatus, Millettia ferruginea, Jimiperus procera, Syzygium guineense, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Acacia albida, Albizia gummifera and Moringa stenopetala. Deep rooted trees planted on farms are found to be sources of feed, food and moisture conservers, that sustain and boost production in moisture scarce agriculture. Under irrigation they are found to be good for salinity protection and marginal land reclamation. Soil infiltration data from secondary sources were examined for cultivated area, wood land and open overgrazed pasture in central Rift Valley. The relative infiltration rates are highest for grasslands. This research work is intended to initiate interdisciplinary networking approach in water and natural resource conservation, proper land use potential development and environmental sustainability.

Combined analysis of air pollution and aeroallergens in a climatic perspective

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

Combined analysis of air pollution and aeroallergens in a climatic perspective

Combined analysis of air pollution and aeroallergens in a climatic perspective

Long‐term groundwater storage trends estimated from streamflow records: Climatic perspective

Base flow, also known as low flow or drought flow, in a natural river system originates mainly from drainage of the riparian aquifers in the upstream basin. Base flow data can therefore provide a quantitative estimate of the basin‐scale groundwater storage changes that have taken place over the period of record. The concept was implemented and validated with data from two large river basins in Illinois. On average over the past 2/3 century, shallow groundwater storage in Illinois, derived from the drought flows, has been increasing at an average rate of around 0.05 to 0.10 mm a‐1. However, the trend has not been stationary throughout this period; for instance, the more recent trend from the mid nineteen nineties until now appears to have been negative. The groundwater storage changes inferred from the base flows are generally consistent with the average groundwater level changes measured in an observation well network over the same area.

Sustained sulfide oxidation by physical erosion processes in the Mackenzie River basin: Climatic perspectives

The chemical weathering of rocks with sulfuric acid is usually not considered in reconstructions of the past evolution of the carbon cycle, although this reaction delivers cations and alkalinity to the ocean without involvement of atmospheric CO 2 . The contribution of sulfuric acid as a weathering agent is still poorly quantifi ed; the identifi cation of riverine sulfate sources is diffi cult. The use of δ 34 S and δ 18 O of dissolved sulfate allows us to demonstrate that most of the sulfate in surface waters of the Mackenzie River system, Canada, derives from pyrite oxidation (85% ± 5%) and not from sedimentary sulfate. The calculated fl ux of pyrite-derived sulfate is 0.13 ◊ 10 12 mol/yr, corresponding to 20%‐27% of the estimated global budget. This result suggests that the modern global ocean delivery of sulfi de-derived sulfate, and thus chemical weathering with sulfuric acid, may be signifi cantly underestimated. A strong correlation between sulfi de oxidation rates and mechanical erosion rates suggests that the exposure of fresh mineral surfaces is the rate-limiting factor of sulfi de oxidation in the subbasins investigated. The chemical weathering budget of the Mackenzie River shows that more than half of the dissolved inorganic carbon discharged to the ocean is ancient sedimentary carbon from carbonate (62%) and not atmospheric carbon (38%). The subsequent carbonate precipitation in the ocean will thus release more CO 2 in the atmosphere-ocean system than that consumed by continental weathering, typically on glacial-interglacial time scales.

Extreme Anomalous Atmospheric Circulation in the West Antarctic Peninsula Region in Austral Spring and Summer 2001/02, and Its Profound Impact on Sea Ice and Biota*

AbstractExceptional sea ice conditions occurred in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region from September 2001 to February 2002, resulting from a strongly positive atmospheric pressure anomaly in the South Atlantic coupled with strong negative anomalies in the Bellingshausen–Amundsen and southwest Weddell Seas. This created a strong and persistent north-northwesterly flow of mild and moist air across the WAP. In situ, satellite, and NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis (NNR) data are used to examine the profound and complex impact on regional sea ice, oceanography, and biota. Extensive sea ice melt, leading to an ocean mixed layer freshening and widespread ice surface flooding, snow–ice formation, and phytoplankton growth, coincided with extreme ice deformation and dynamic thickening. Sea ice dynamics were crucial to the development of an unusually early and rapid (short) retreat season (negative ice extent anomaly). Strong winds with a dominant northerly component created an unusually compact marginal ice zone and a major increase in ice thickness by deformation and over-rafting. This led to the atypical persistence of highly compact coastal ice through summer. Ecological effects were both positive and negative, the latter including an impact on the growth rate of larval Antarctic krill and the largest recorded between-season breeding population decrease and lowest reproductive success in a 30-yr Adélie penguin demographic time series. The unusual sea ice and snow cover conditions also contributed to the formation of a major phytoplankton bloom. Unexpectedly, the initial bloom occurred within compact sea ice and could not be detected in Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) ocean color data. This analysis demonstrates that sea ice extent alone is an inadequate descriptor of the regional sea ice state/conditions, from both a climatic and ecological perspective; further information is required on thickness and dynamics/deformation.

Do deviants live longer? Morphology and longevity in trachyleberidid ostracodes

Persistent fossil taxa contravene paradigms of evolution: pervasive morphological change and taxic turnover. Comparative studies of taxic duration have often been approached from biogeographic, climatic, and ecological perspectives, with a focus on process. Here I use a mor- phological approach to study the pattern of longevity of a large family of marine living and fossil podocopid ostracodes, Trachyleberididae sensu lato. I test if geologically longer-lived genera are collectively morphologically more deviant from a group mean than their shorter-lived relatives by using both discrete morphological data and outline data. I discovered that long-lived genera are in general not significantly more or less morphologically deviant from the average morphology than their shorter-lived relatives. However, I found that contemporaneous subsets of long-lived trachyleberidids are often at least marginally significantly more deviant in discrete morphology than shorter-lived ones, especially in external morphology. No significant patterns of association between morphological deviation and durations in other subdivisions of the data emerged (i.e., whole data set, birth cohorts, groups of morphological characters, and outline data using both Fou- rier analysis and eigenshape analysis). This is in contrast to a previous finding that long-lived gen- era of crinoids within orders are often morphologically less deviant than their shorter-lived rela- tives than expected by chance.

A Resourceful Industry Lands the Serpent

In 1997, Norsk Hydro cast a line with wildcat well No. 6305/ 5-1 and hooked a big fish even for the North Sea. In 2000, the industry stepped back and gave pause to the enormity of the undertaking. It had become clear that the Norwegian serpent, Ormen Lange, would be a heavyweight in all respects. The project takes its name from the ship of Viking King Olav Tryggvasson. Charting the course to landfall is a group of star licensee/operators—Hydro, Shell, Petoro, Statoil, Dong, and ExxonMobil. The giant serpent, stretching across four North Sea blocks, is destined to become a major European gas source, covering 20% of U.K. gas requirements for 40 years. The U.K. gas market is the largest in Europe, with annual consumption of 3.9 Tcf. From geologic and climatic perspectives, main subsea installations and pipelines will be subjected not only to mountainous terrain created in the scar area of the Storegga avalanche slide, but also to cold polar currents driven by the Gulf Stream, generating some of nature’s most brutal forces. Water temperatures on the seabed are below freezing for most of the year—perfect conditions for hydrate development. The ocean surface is thrashed by fierce winds and waves. Beyond these challenges, Ormen Lange is seen from Hydro’s vantage point as three concurrent projects—development of the reservoir with templates and pipelines to shore, design/construction of the Langeled pipelines (one with 42-in.-diameter and another with 44-in.-diameter pipe), and construction and operation of a processing plant. This intensely faulted reservoir (one study reports that more than 1,000 faults have been interpreted and included in simulations) is the second-largest gas discovery on the Norwegian shelf (the Troll field is the largest) and will be Europe’s deepest subsea development. Ormen Lange will contribute to a doubling of Hydro’s gas exports by the year 2010, making Norway the world’s second-largest gas exporter. The project is the largest in Norway’s history. With main gas reserves located in the Vale formation, drilling has already confirmed resources of 11 Tcf of gas; production is planned at 2.5 Bcf/D of gas and 53,463 B/D of condensate will be stored. The climatic and oceanographic conditions in the region of the find present severely challenging conditions, and forces created by wind and waves are as challenging as any other deepwater project. Some long-time veterans of the North Sea development call Ormen Lange the most challenging offshore project ever. In cooperation with internationally recognized Norwegian expertise, extensive studies have been conducted regarding the stability of seabed masses and slide safety along with future natural conditions, including potential tsunamis, and conditions resulting from project activities. The associated subsea-export-pipeline project is one of the largest undertaken by the industry. Gas will be transported more than 1200 km from Nyhamna via the Sleipner platform in the North Sea (Fig. 1). Total investment cost is estimated at U.S. $10.2 billion, including $7.2 billion for development and $3 billion for the transport system. A hotel built for workers at Nyhamna, where the gas-processing plant is being built, is larger than any other hotel in Norway (three times larger than the Oslo Plaza Hotel).

Recent trends and climatic perspectives of hailstorms frequency and intensity in Tuscany and Central Italy

Abstract. The damages from climatic extremes have dramatically increased in the last decades in Europe, as likely outcomes of climate change: floods, droughts, heat waves and hailstorms have brought local as well as widespread damages to farmers, industry, infrastructures and society, to insurance and reinsurance companies; in this work we deal with the hailstorm hazard. The NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis (2.5 by 2.5° lat-lon) over the Italian area and the hailstorm reports at several sites are used to identify few forcings for hailstorms; statistical relationships linking forcings and hailstorm frequencies are derived. Such relationships are applied to the same forcings derived from the CGCM2-A2 climate scenario provided by the Canadian Centre for Climate modeling and analysis (CCCma; resolution approximately 3.75 by 3.75° lat-lon), to evaluate the expected changes of the frequency of hailstorms. The time series of the forcings from the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis and the CCCma climate scenario in the past decades are compared in order to assess the reliability and accuracy of the predictions of the future hailstorm hazard. It is shown that the climate scenario provides a fairly faithful representation of the past trends of the forcings relevant to the hailstorms frequency and that such quantity, hence the hailstorm hazard, is growing and will likely grow in the future over the limited area taken into consideration in this study.

Why do evergreen trees dominate the Australian seasonal tropics?

The northern Australian woody vegetation is predominantly evergreen despite an intensely seasonal climate and a diversity of deciduous species in the regional flora. From a global climatic perspective the dominance of evergreen rather than deciduous trees in the Australian savannas is apparently anomalous when compared with other savannas of the world. However, this pattern is not unexpected in light of existing theory that emphasises photosynthetic return relative to cost of investment between deciduous and evergreen species. (a) Climatically, monsoonal Australia is more extreme in terms of rainfall seasonality and variability and high air temperatures than most other parts of the seasonally dry tropics. Existing theory predicts that extreme variability and high temperatures favour evergreen trees that can maximise the period during which leaves assimilate CO2. (b) Soil infertility is known to favour evergreens, given the physiological cost of leaf construction, and the northern Australian vegetation grows mainly on deeply weathered and infertile Tertiary regoliths. (c) These regoliths also provide stores of ground water that evergreens are able to exploit during seasonal drought, thereby maintaining near constant transpiration throughout the year. (d) Fire disturbance appears to be an important secondary factor in explaining the dominance of evergreens in the monsoon tropics, based on the fact that most deciduous tree species of the region are restricted to small fire-protected sites. (e) Evolutionary history cannot explain the predominance of evergreens, given the existence of a wide range of deciduous species, including deciduous eucalypts, in the regional tree flora.

Calculating the water and heat balances of the Baltic Sea using ocean modelling and available meteorological, hydrological and ocean data

In this paper we aim to analyse Baltic Sea water and heat balances for the BALTEX/ BRIDGE study period and to put these into a climatic perspective. The study period—the three years starting October 1999—was a time of enhanced observational and modelling activities in the Baltic Sea region and of the major field activity of BALTEX Phase I programme. The present study follows the example of earlier work, where Baltic Sea modelling was used as a tool for synthesizing available data and closing the water and heat balances. The modelling approach was validated with independent data sets of observations from salinity and temperature. The model simulation was also compared with the coupled atmosphere–Baltic Sea model system, HIRLAM–BALTEX, whichwas run in a delayed data assimilation mode. The results indicate that accurate long-term net water and net heat balances (mean errors over decadal time scales are about 600 m 3 s −1 and 2 W m −2 respectively) can be calculated using current Baltic Sea modelling and meteorological and hydrological data available from the BALTEX data centres. The accuracy of the individual terms in the water and heat balances is, however, still unknown. The study illustrated that negative net precipitation rates are possible, with the year 2002 standing out from the rest of the 30-yr study period. The calculated inter-annual variability of the net heat loss between atmosphere and Baltic Sea during the BALTEX/ BRIDGE period indicated large variations (±10 W m −2 ). It has also been shown that the Baltic Sea annual mean temperature has not increased during the studied period despite an atmospheric warming of 1 °C. The reason has been explained by the heat balance that indicated no trend in the Baltic Sea net heat loss.

Calculating the water and heat balances of the Baltic Sea using ocean modelling and available meteorological, hydrological and ocean data

In this paper we aim to analyse Baltic Sea water and heat balances for the BALTEX/BRIDGE study period and to put these into a climatic perspective. The study period—the three years starting October 1999—was a time of enhanced observational and modelling activities in the Baltic Sea region and of the major field activity of BALTEX Phase I programme. The present study follows the example of earlier work, where Baltic Sea modelling was used as a tool for synthesizing available data and closing the water and heat balances. The modelling approach was validated with independent data sets of observations from salinity and temperature. The model simulation was also compared with the coupled atmosphere’Baltic Sea model system, HIRLAM’BALTEX, whichwas run in a delayed data assimilation mode. The results indicate that accurate long-term net water and net heat balances (mean errors over decadal time scales are about 600 m3 s—1 and 2 W m—2 respectively) can be calculated using current Baltic Sea modelling and meteorological and hydrological data available from the BALTEX data centres. The accuracy of the individual terms in the water and heat balances is, however, still unknown. The study illustrated that negative net precipitation rates are possible, with the year 2002 standing out from the rest of the 30-yr study period. The calculated inter-annual variability of the net heat loss between atmosphere and Baltic Sea during the BALTEX/BRIDGE period indicated large variations (±10 W m—2). It has also been shown that the Baltic Sea annual mean temperature has not increased during the studied period despite an atmospheric warming of 1 °C. The reason has been explained by the heat balance that indicated no trend in the Baltic Sea net heat loss.

The influence of bedrock‐derived acidity in the development of surface and underground karst: evidence from the Precambrian carbonates of semi‐arid northeastern Brazil

AbstractVery extensive cave systems are developed in Precambrian Una Group carbonates in the Campo Formoso area, eastern Brazil. In contrast, the area is largely devoid of significant surface karst landforms, as would be expected given its semi‐arid climate. The caves in the area display many morphological features characteristic of deep‐seated hypogenic caves, such as lack of relationship with the surface, ramiform/network pattern, abrupt variations of passage cross‐sections and absence of fluvial sediments, but do not show evidence of vertical passages marking the ascending path of acidic water nor present extensive gypsum or acid clay mineral deposits. Hydrochemical analyses of present‐day ground water indicate that oxidation of bedrock sulphide is an active process, and sulphuric acid may be the main agent driving carbonate dissolution in the area. A shallow mode of speleogenesis is thus proposed, in which sulphuric acid produced through the oxidation of sulphide beds within the carbonates controls cave initiation and development. Moreover, the geological situation of the area in an ancient stable passive margin precludes the possibility of deep‐seated sources of acidity.Under dry climate, due to the absence of recharge, solutional landforms will be largely subdued in the surface. Hypogenic processes, if present, are likely to predominate, producing a landscape characterized by a marked disparity in the comparative degree of development between surface and underground landforms. Rates of karst landform development have traditionally been analysed through a climatic perspective, runoff being the main controlling factor in promoting karst development. This view needs to be reassessed in the light of the growing awareness of the importance of climate‐independent processes related to hypogenic sources of acidity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Climatic perspectives on Sahelian desiccation: 1973–1998

Climatic perspectives on Sahelian desiccation: 1973–1998

Climatic perspectives on Sahelian desiccation: 1973–1998

The African Sahel provides the most dramatic example of multi-decadal climate variability that has been quantitatively and directly measured. Annual rainfall across this region fell by between 20 and 30 per cent between the decades leading up to political independence for the Sahelian nations (1930s to 1950s) and the decades since (1970s to 1990s). Climatic perspectives on the nature and causes of this period of desiccation have changed and, in some cases, matured as the years — and the drought — continued. This paper reviews these changing perspectives and reflects on three central questions: How unique an occurrence has been this desiccation in the recent human history of the Sahel? Can we find an adequate explanation for this desiccation in the natural forces that shape the climate system, or do we have to implicate human interventions in the system? Is our understanding of climate variability sufficient to allow us to develop seasonal rainfall forecasting capabilities for the region?

The Evolution of neogene terrestrial ecosystems in Europe

1. Introduction J. Agusti, L. Rook and P. Andrews Part I. Palaeogeography of the Circum-Mediterranean Region: 2. Mediterranean and Paratethys palaeogeography during Oligocene and Miocene Fred Rogl 3. Pliocene tephra correlations between East African hominid localities, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea Peter B. deMenocal and Francis H. Brown 4. Climatic perspectives for neogene environmental reconstructions Eileen M. O'Brien and Charles R. Peters Part II. Miocene Mammalian Successions: 5. A critical re-evaluation of the Miocene mammals units in western Europe: dispersal events and the problems of correlation J. Agusti, L. Cabrera and M. Garces 6. Large mammals from the Vallesian of Spain Jorge Morales, Manuel Nieto, Meike Kholer and Salvador Moya-Sola 7. Trends in rodent assemblages from the Aragonian (Early-Middle Miocene) of the Calatayud-Daroca basin, Aragon, Spain R. Daams, A. J. van der Meulen, P. Pelaez-Campomanes and M. A. Alvarez-Sierra 8. The Late Miocene small mammal succession from France, with emphasis on the Rhone Valley localities Pierre Mein 9. Late Miocene mammals from central Europe Jens Lorenz Franzen and Gerharrd Storch 10. An overview on the Italian Miocene land mammal faunas Lorenzo Rook, Laura Abbazzi and Burkhart Engesser 11. The Miocene large mammal succession in Greece Louis de Bonis and George D. Koufos 12. Chronology and mammal faunas of the Miocene Sinap formation, Turkey Juha Pekka Lunkka, Mikael Fortelius, John Kappelman and Sevket Sen 13. The Late Miocene small mammal succession in Ukraine Valentin A. Nesin and Vadim A. Topachevsky Part III. Palaeoenvironments: Non-Mammalian Evidence: 14. Marine invertebrate (chiefly foraminiferal) evidence for the palaeogeography of the Oligocene-Miocene of western Eurasia, and consequences for terrestrial vertebrate migration Robert Wynn Jones 15. Palaeoclimatic implications of the energy hypothesis from Neogene corals of the Mediterranean region Brian R. Rosen 16. Contribution to the knowledge of Neogene climatic changes in western and central Europe by means of non-marine molluscs Daniela Esu 17. Sedimentary facies analysis in palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Examples from the Upper Miocene-Pliocene successions of south-central Tuscany (Italy) Marco Benvenuti, Mauro Papini and Giovanni Testa 18. Neogene vegetation changes in western European and west circum-Mediterranean areas Jean-Pierre Suc, Severine Fauquette, Mostefa Bessegik, Adele Bertini, Zhuo Zheng, Georges Clauzon, Danica Suballyova, Fiomena Diniz, Pierre Quezel, Najat Feddi, Martine Clet, Ezzedine Bessais, Naima Bachiri Taoufiq, Henriette Meon and Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout Part IV. Palaeoenvironments: Mammalian Evidence: 19. Shrews (Mammalia, Insectivora, Soricidae) as palaeoclimatic indicators in the European Neogene Jelle W.F. Reumer 20. Mammal turnover and global climate change in the Late Micoene terrestrial record of the Valles- Penedes basin (NE Spain) Jorge Agusti , Lluis Cabrera, Miguel Garces and Manel Llenas 21. Palaeoenvironments of Late Miocene primate localites in Macedonia, Greece L. de Bonis, G. Bouvrain and G. D. Koufos 22. The paleoecology of the Pikermian biome and the savanna myth Nikos Solounias, J. Michael Plavcan, Jay Quade and Lawrence Witmer 23. Vicariance biogeography and paleoecology of Eurasian Miocine hominoid primates Peter Andrews and Raymond L. Bernor 24. Conclusion J. Agusti, L. Rook and P. Andrews.