TY  - JOUR
A1  - Barbolini, Natasha
A1  - Woutersen, Amber
A1  - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume
A1  - Silvestro, Daniele
A1  - Tardif-Becquet, Delphine
A1  - Coster, Pauline M. C.
A1  - Meijer, Niels
A1  - Chang, Cun
A1  - Zhang, Hou-Xi
A1  - Licht, Alexis
A1  - Rydin, Catarina
A1  - Koutsodendris, Andreas
A1  - Han, Fang
A1  - Rohrmann, Alexander
A1  - Liu, Xiang-Jun
A1  - Zhang, Y.
A1  - Donnadieu, Yannick
A1  - Fluteau, Frederic
A1  - Ladant, Jean-Baptiste
A1  - Le Hir, Guillaume
A1  - Hoorn, M. Carina
T1  - Cenozoic evolution of the steppe-desert biome in Central Asia
JF  - Science Advances
N2  - The origins and development of the arid and highly seasonal steppe-desert biome in Central Asia, the largest of its kind in the world, remain largely unconstrained by existing records. It is unclear how Cenozoic climatic, geological, and biological forces, acting at diverse spatial and temporal scales, shaped Central Asian ecosystems through time. Our synthesis shows that the Central Asian steppe-desert has existed since at least Eocene times but experienced no less than two regime shifts, one at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition and one in the mid-Miocene. These shifts separated three successive "stable states," each characterized by unique floral and faunal structures. Past responses to disturbance in the Asian steppe-desert imply that modern ecosystems are unlikely to recover their present structures and diversity if forced into a new regime. This is of concern for Asian steppes today, which are being modified for human use and lost to desertification at unprecedented rates.
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb8227
SN  - 2375-2548
VL  - 6
IS  - 41
PB  - American Association for the Advancement of Science
CY  - Washington
ER  -