Articles | Volume 21, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1185-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1185-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
More is not always better: delta-downscaling climate model outputs from 30 to 5 min resolution has minimal impact on coherence with Late Quaternary proxies
Lucy Timbrell
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK
James Blinkhorn
Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK
Margherita Colucci
Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Michela Leonardi
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Natural History Museum, London, UK
Manuel Chevalier
Meteorology Department, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Andrea Vittorio Pozzi
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Matt Grove
Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK
Eleanor Scerri
Human Palaeosystems Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Andrea Manica
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Gabriel Fénisse, Manuel Chevalier, Odile Peyron, David Vincent Bekaert, and Pierre-Henri Blard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1590, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1590, 2026
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Fossil pollen offers insights into past climates, yet results differ depending on reconstruction methods. By comparing multiple approaches across Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum, we highlight how method choice influences outcomes. Our work introduces a new methodological framework that reduces biases and improves the reliability of climate reconstructions.
Chenzhi Li, Anne Dallmeyer, Jian Ni, Manuel Chevalier, Matteo Willeit, Andrei A. Andreev, Xianyong Cao, Laura Schild, Birgit Heim, Mareike Wieczorek, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 21, 1001–1024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1001-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1001-2025, 2025
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We present global megabiome dynamics and distributions derived from pollen-based reconstructions over the last 21 000 years, which are suitable for the evaluation of Earth-system-model-based paleo-megabiome simulations. We identified strong deviations between pollen- and model-derived megabiome distributions in the circum-Arctic and Tibetan Plateau areas during the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation and in northern Africa and the Mediterranean region during the Holocene.
Fabio Oriani, Gregoire Mariethoz, and Manuel Chevalier
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 731–742, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-731-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-731-2024, 2024
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Modern and fossil pollen data contain precious information for reconstructing the climate and environment of the past. However, these data are only achieved for single locations with no continuity in space. We present here a systematic atlas of 194 digital maps containing the spatial estimation of contemporary pollen presence over Europe. This dataset constitutes a free and ready-to-use tool to study climate, biodiversity, and environment in time and space.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Chenzhi Li, Xianyong Cao, Odile Peyron, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Clim. Past, 19, 1481–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, 2023
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A mismatch between model- and proxy-based Holocene climate change may partially originate from the poor spatial coverage of climate reconstructions. Here we investigate quantitative reconstructions of mean annual temperature and annual precipitation from 1908 pollen records in the Northern Hemisphere. Trends show strong latitudinal patterns and differ between (sub-)continents. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the global mean.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Chenzhi Li, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Xianyong Cao, Nancy H. Bigelow, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Odile Peyron, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2235–2258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, 2023
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Climate reconstruction from proxy data can help evaluate climate models. We present pollen-based reconstructions of mean July temperature, mean annual temperature, and annual precipitation from 2594 pollen records from the Northern Hemisphere, using three reconstruction methods (WA-PLS, WA-PLS_tailored, and MAT). Since no global or hemispheric synthesis of quantitative precipitation changes are available for the Holocene so far, this dataset will be of great value to the geoscientific community.
Manuel Chevalier, Anne Dallmeyer, Nils Weitzel, Chenzhi Li, Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Ulrike Herzschuh, Xianyong Cao, and Andreas Hense
Clim. Past, 19, 1043–1060, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, 2023
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Data–data and data–model vegetation comparisons are commonly based on comparing single vegetation estimates. While this approach generates good results on average, reducing pollen assemblages to single single plant functional type (PFT) or biome estimates can oversimplify the vegetation signal. We propose using a multivariate metric, the Earth mover's distance (EMD), to include more details about the vegetation structure when performing such comparisons.
Manuel Chevalier
Clim. Past, 18, 821–844, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-821-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-821-2022, 2022
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This paper introduces a new R package to perform quantitative climate reconstructions from palaeoecological datasets. The package includes calibration data for several commonly used terrestrial (e.g. pollen) and marine (e.g. foraminifers) climate proxies to enable its use in various environments globally. In addition, the built-in graphical diagnostic tools simplify the evaluation and interpretations of the results. No coding skills are required to use crestr.
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Short summary
Scientists study past climate change using proxies (e.g. pollen) and models. Proxies offer detailed snapshots but are limited in number, while models provide broader coverage but at low resolution. Models are typically downscaled to 30 arcmin, but it is unclear if this is sufficient. We found that increasing models to 5 arcmin does not improve their coherence with climate reconstructed from pollen data. Optimal model resolution depends on research need, balancing detail with error.
Scientists study past climate change using proxies (e.g. pollen) and models. Proxies...