Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2019-91
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2019-91
01 Aug 2019
 | 01 Aug 2019
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal CP but the revision was not accepted.

A comprehensive history of climate and habitat stability of the last 800&thinsp,000 years

Mario Krapp, Robert Beyer, Stephen L. Edmundson, Paul J. Valdes, and Andrea Manica

Abstract. A detailed and accurate reconstruction of the past climate is essential in understanding the interactions between ecosystems and their environment through time. We know that climatic drivers have shaped the distribution and evolution of species, including our own, and their habitats. Yet, spatially-detailed climate reconstructions that continuously cover the Quaternary do not exist. This is mainly because no paleoclimate model can reconstruct regional-scale dynamics over geological time scales. Here we develop a statistical emulator, the Global Climate Model Emulator (GCMET), which reconstructs the climate of the last 800 000 years with unprecedented spatial detail. GCMET captures the temporal dynamics of glacial-interglacial climates as an Earth System Model of Intermediate Complexity would whilst resolving the local dynamics with the accuracy of a Global Climate Model. It provides a new, unique resource to explore the climate of the Quaternary, which we use to investigate the long-term stability of major habitat types. We identify a number of stable pockets of habitat that have remained unchanged over the last 800 thousand years, acting as potential long-term evolutionary refugia. Thus, the highly detailed, comprehensive overview of climatic changes through time delivered by GCMET provides the needed resolution to quantify the role of long term habitat change and fragmentation in an ecological and anthropological context.

Mario Krapp, Robert Beyer, Stephen L. Edmundson, Paul J. Valdes, and Andrea Manica
 
Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
Mario Krapp, Robert Beyer, Stephen L. Edmundson, Paul J. Valdes, and Andrea Manica
Mario Krapp, Robert Beyer, Stephen L. Edmundson, Paul J. Valdes, and Andrea Manica

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Short summary
The local response of the global climate system to the external drivers of the glacial–interglacial climates throughout the Quaternary can be approximated by a simple linear regression model. Based on numerical climate model simulations for the last glacial cycle, our global climate model emulator (GCMET) is able to reconstruct the climate of the last 800 000 years, in good agreement with long-term terrestrial and marine proxy records.