Progressive changes in both the composition of Italian mammal communities and vegetation from the Late Neogene to the Quaternary can be interpreted as a response to climatic changes, which in turn reflect glacial/interglacial cycling. Modifications of Italian plant and animal communities (fluctuations in biodiversity and biomass, alternating between forests/woodlands and more open habitats, replacements of browsing and grazing ungulates, etc.) all paralleled significant changes in temperature and moisture levels. Habitat oscillations, however, were never cyclic returns to previous conditions. Temperature and moisture declined steadily, and sometimes dropped drastically, while seasonality increased. The result was a cumulative decline in primary productivity, the replacement of smaller-sized browsing taxa by larger-sized, gregarious grazing taxa, as well as the consequent replacement of ambush or solitary carnivores by social predators. Furthermore, late in the Pleistocene, Alpine and Apennine orogenic uplift added their effects, creating distinct sub-bioprovinces.

Response of Italian Late Neogene and Quaternary Large land Mammals to Climatic and Vegetation Change / P. MAZZA. - STAMPA. - (2006), pp. 315-320.

Response of Italian Late Neogene and Quaternary Large land Mammals to Climatic and Vegetation Change.

MAZZA, PAUL
2006

Abstract

Progressive changes in both the composition of Italian mammal communities and vegetation from the Late Neogene to the Quaternary can be interpreted as a response to climatic changes, which in turn reflect glacial/interglacial cycling. Modifications of Italian plant and animal communities (fluctuations in biodiversity and biomass, alternating between forests/woodlands and more open habitats, replacements of browsing and grazing ungulates, etc.) all paralleled significant changes in temperature and moisture levels. Habitat oscillations, however, were never cyclic returns to previous conditions. Temperature and moisture declined steadily, and sometimes dropped drastically, while seasonality increased. The result was a cumulative decline in primary productivity, the replacement of smaller-sized browsing taxa by larger-sized, gregarious grazing taxa, as well as the consequent replacement of ambush or solitary carnivores by social predators. Furthermore, late in the Pleistocene, Alpine and Apennine orogenic uplift added their effects, creating distinct sub-bioprovinces.
2006
Late Neogene and Quaternary biodiversity and evolution: Regional developments and interregional correlations
315
320
P. MAZZA
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/258468
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