Data from sediments, plants, and animals allow inferences to be made about the environment surrounding Detan during the Oligocene. As volcanic activity began, a system of shallow lakes extended through the lowlands of this area. The lakes were surrounded by riparian forest with alder, elm and other broad-leaved trees. Ferns (Rumohra) and lianas (Smilax) grew at forest edges. Laurel-oak evergreen forests with cypress and mahonia undergrowth grew along standing water. On the slopes of the rising volcano, pine forests grew, as seen in some tuffaceous layers with abundant pine needles, twigs, and cones. Rare molds of hickory nuts (Carya) demonstrate that a species of this mostly North American genus was present. The early Oligocene was characterized by climatic deterioration, recognized mainly by the influx of Alnus, Ulmus, and Zelkova in the vegetation, and by the extinction of some Eocene thermophilous plant taxa (Fejfar and Kvacek 1993).
The geologic context of the Doupovské Hory volcanics is not unlike that of the Upper Laetolil Beds. Both were derived primarily from volcaniclastic sources in a rift setting. They exhibit a similar secondarily calcareous and tuffaceous lithology. Both also preserve insect trace fossils and have bones and teeth modified by the actions of insects. By comparison with Laetoli, the presence of of termites, termite mounds, drop-like brood cells and pupal cocoons of solitary burrowing hymenopterans suggests that, at least in the area where they are preserved, the southern slopes of the Doupov volcano were not densely vegetated. Together with this association, the absence of aquatic molluscs, otherwise abundant in the nearby fine-bedded lacustrine tuffites suggests a rather dry, well-drained environment. Such a pattern, and the vegetation of the region, indicates a patchy environmental mosaic.
Watson and Abbey (1986) postulated that osteophagous behavior in termites is targeted at bone collagen to alleviate nitrogen deficiency, which is a characteristic problem in subtropical carbonatitic soils. Similar to Laetoli, insect modification of bones and teeth at Detan predominantly affects unweathered bone surfaces, which presumably at the time of modification had not suffered collagen decomposition. If this relationship is true, the observed marks could have been produced in response to similar dietary requirements among insects, exacerbated by their distribution in nitrogen-poor soils often characteristic of semi-arid regions.