Pliocene-pleistocene vegetational and climatic evolution of the south-central mediterranean

The vegetational history of the south-central Mediterranean clearly reflects the major global climatic changes of the last four million years. A Mediterranean-type climate, characterized by strong seasonality and a dry summer, may have existed in this region during the early Pliocene. A short-term climatic cooling at approximately 3.2 Ma resulted in the temporary establishment of a humidity-demanding flora; the onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation at approximately 2.4 Ma initiated an alternation between humid (glacial) and dry (interglacial) conditions. Vegetational differences between this region and the north-west Mediterranean indicate that distinct latitudinal climatic gradients probably existed in the Mediterranean during the Pliocene-early Pleistocene. © 1989.