High rainfall afforded resilience to tropical rainforests during Early Eocene Climatic Optimum

The rainforests near the early Eocene palaeo-equator were more resilient to greenhouse warming than midlatitude vegetation. The mechanism underlying that resilience remains poorly known due to the lack of reliable terrestrial climate data from the palaeo-equator. In this paper, we quantify terrestrial temperature data using a plant proxy approach and infer that early Eocene climate near the palaeo-equator (-2.6 degrees N) was warmer than in mid- to high palaeolatitudes. The data also suggest that high levels of rainfall near the palaeo-equator might have afforded greater resilience to tropical rainforests by increasing the water use efficiency of trees during the warm greenhouse world of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.

Automated summary

By quantifying terrestrial temperature data using a plant proxy approach, this study reveals that the climate near the palaeo-equator during the early Eocene was warmer than in mid- to high latitudes. The research also suggests that high rainfall levels near the palaeo-equator might have contributed to the resilience of tropical rainforests during the warm greenhouse world of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.