TABLE 1. Fossil sites information, modern ecology, palaeovegetation and selected leaf traits data of the Toupi flora and Shengxian flora.
| Toupi flora | Shengxian flora | References | ||
| Fossil site information | Chronostratigraphic | late Burdigalian to Langhian | Tortonian | He and Wang, 2021; Li et al., 2014 |
| Age | 17 -14 Ma | 10.5 (± 0.5)Ma | ||
| Lithostratigraphic unit | Toupi Formation | Shengxian Formation | ||
| Biostatigraphic | Spore-pollen; Miocene | Plants, spore-pollen; Miocene | ||
| Facies type | lake | lake | ||
| Sediments | diatomaceous mudstones, shales | mudstones and shales | ||
| Modern ecology | Vegetation type | broad-leaved evergreen | broad-leaved evergreen | Zhang et al., 2007; this Study |
| Geography | Intermaountain Basin | Intermaountain Basin | ||
| Elevation (m) | 170 | 280 | ||
| MAT (°C） | 18.4 | 16.5 | ||
| MAP (mm) | 1518.8 | 1454 | ||
| longitude and latitude | N 26.751, E116.192 | N 29.159, E 121.240 | ||
| IPR (pollen) |
Vegetation type | broad-leaved evergreen | subhumid sclerophyllous forest | Jacques et al. 2011b |
| IPR (macro fossil) |
Vegetation type | broad-leaved evergreen1 | broad-leaved evergreen2 | He and Wang, 2021 |
| Leaf trait | leaf size | bigger | smaller | this study |
| leaf margin (no teeth %) | 75 | 67.74 | ||
| LMA | 101.51 | 91.93 |
Notes: 1, macro fossils together with pollen data (see He and Wang, 2021); 2, the first author made a IPR analysis with macro fossils.
TABLE 2. The Leaf mass per area (LMA) data of the Toupi flora and Shengxian flora.
| Toupi flora | Shengian flora | ||||
| Species/Morphtypes | LMA (g/m2) | LMA average (g/m2) | Species/Morphtypes | LM (g/m2) | LMA average (g/m2) |
| Alseodaphne sp. | 130.96 | Cinnamomum cf. Bejolghota | 102.04 | 102.04 | |
| 120.86 | Machilus tiantaiense | 55.66 | 55.66 | ||
| 106.22 | 119.35 | ||||
| Ilex sp. | 118.33 | Ilex cf. championii | 85.64 | 85.64 | |
| 135.69 | 127.01 | Ilex protocornuta | 142.78 | 142.78 | |
| Lithocarpus sp. | 79.88 | Lithocarpus cf. glaber | 74.47 | 74.47 | |
| 120.11 | |||||
| 94.91 | 98.30 | ||||
| Quercus cf. franchetii | 66.28 | 66.28 | Quercus cf. franchetii | 91.22 | 91.22 |
| Quercus sp. | 115.50 | 115.5 | Quercus cf. chenii | 86.75 | 86.75 |
| Juglans acuminata | 95.41 | 95.41 | Quercus paraglauca | 70.76 | |
| Garcinia sp. | 100.77 | 100.77 | 76.45 | ||
| Morphotype 1 | 103.54 | 103.54 | 68.42 | ||
| Morphotype 3 | 87.46 | 87.46 | 117.69 | ||
| Total average |
101.51 |
94.51 | 85.57 | ||
| Laurophyllum sp. | 77.14 | 77.14 | |||
| Betula sp. | 74.26 | 74.26 | |||
| Ulmus sp. | 141.99 | 141.99 | |||
| Zelkova ungeri | 91.81 | ||||
| 114.31 | 103.06 | ||||
| Liquidambar miosinica | 78.28 | ||||
| 72.69 | |||||
| 70.81 | 73.93 | ||||
| Castanopsis cf. fissa | 73.20 | 73.20 | |||
| Entada phaseoloide | 72.22 | 72.22 | |||
| Buxus miosempervirens | 117.05 | 117.05 | |||
| Syringa zhejiangensis | 112.08 | 112.08 | |||
| Lonicera cf. japonica | 91.32 | 91.32 | |||
| Rhus turcomanica | 86.22 | 86.22 | |||
| Total average |
91.93 |
||||
TABLE 3. The CLAMP results of the Toupi and Shengxian flora. MAT, mean annual temperature; WMMT, warm month mean temperature; CMMT, cold month mean temperature; GROWSEAS, length of the growing season; GSP, mean growing season precipitation; MMGSP, mean monthly growing season precipitation; X3.WET, precipitation during the three wettest months; X3.DRY, precipitation during the three driest months; RH, relative humidity; SH, specific humidity; ENTHAL, enthalpy.
| MAT | WMMT | CMMT | GROWSEAS | GSP | MMGSP | X3.WET | X3.DRY | RH | SH | ENTHAL | |
| Toupi | 16.7 | 24.5 | 9.0 | 9.2 | 131.7 | 14.4 | 71.9 | 16.2 | 75.7 | 9.8 | 32.9 |
| Shengxian | 13.6 | 23.8 | 4.4 | 7.8 | 113.1 | 14.1 | 67.1 | 16.4 | 70.7 | 7.5 | 31.6 |
TABLE 4. Modern climate parameters and the CLAMP and CA results of the Toupi flora and Shengxian flora. MAT, mean annual temperature; WMMT, warm month mean temperature; CMMT, cold month mean temperature; MAP, mean annual precipitation; GROWSEAS, length of the growing season; GSP, mean growing season precipitation; DT, difference between the coldest and warmest month temperature.
| Climate parameter | Toupi | Shengxian | ||||
| CA1 | CLAMP | Modern | CA | CLAMP | Modern | |
| MAT (°C) | 15.9 (15.7 – 16.1) | 16.7 | 18.4 | 15.9 (15.7 – 16.1) | 13.6 | 16.5 |
| WMMT (℃) | 25.25 (24.9 – 25.6) | 24.5 | 29.5 | 24.6 (23.6 – 25.6) | 23.8 | 28.4 |
| CMMT (℃) | 5.25 (5.0 – 5.5) | 9.0 | 6.5 | 5.8 (3.8 – 7.8) | 4.4 | 4.3 |
| MAP (mm) | 1151(1096 – 1206) | 1518.8 | 1151 (1096 – 1206) | 1454 | ||
| LGS (month) | 9.2 | 7.8 | ||||
| GSP (mm) | 131.7 | 113.1 | ||||
| DT (℃) | 20.0 (19.4 – 20.6) | 15.5 | 23 | 18.0 (15.8 – 21.8) | 19.8 | 24.1 |
Note: 1, the signal is the middle value, to compare with CLAMP results (see Yao et al., 2011).
TABLE 5. The taxonomic composition of the Toupi flora and Shengxian flora (macro fossil in genera level); data after Ding, 2011; He, 2019; He and Wang, 2021; Xiao et al., 2022, and this study.
| Toupi flora | Shengxian Flora |
|---|---|
| Pinus | Pinus |
| Calocedrus | Calocedrus |
| Cinnamomum | Cinnamomum |
| Acer | Acer |
| Castanea | Castanea |
| Castanopsis | Castanopsis |
| Quercus | Quercus |
| Liquidambar | Liquidambar |
| Lithocarpus | Lithocarpus |
| Ilex | Ilex |
| Carpinus | Carpinus |
| Juglans | Juglans |
| Lonicera | Lonicera |
| Magnolia | Magnolia |
| Podocarpus | Potamogeton |
| Palaeocarya | Ceratophyllum |
| Carya | Buxus |
| Yua | Betula |
| Hamamelis | Ailanthus |
| Tripetaleia | Smilax |
| Celastrus | Actinodaphne |
| Cedrela | Alseodaphne |
| Aesculus | Cyclobalanopsis |
| Pisiscia | Fagus |
| Dalbergia | Cocculus |
| Berberis | Cornus |
| Mahonia | Crataegus |
| Morus | Ficus |
| Fothergilla | Morus |
| Alseodaphne | Loropetalum |
| Phoebe | Indocalamus |
| Garcinia | Sasa |
| Diospyros | Kalopanax |
| Spiraea | Mallotus |
| Symplocos | Myrica |
| Frangula | Paliurus |
| Millettia | |
| Ormosia | |
| Maackia | |
| Dalbergia | |
| Polygonum | |
| Syringa | |
| Zelkova | |
| Ulmus | |
| Lagerstroemia | |
| Trapa | |
| Abies | |
| Cedrus | |
| Keteleeria | |
| Picea | |
| Pseudolarix | |
| Tsuga | |
| Cunninghamia | |
| Metasequoia | |
| Cephalotaxus | |
| Torreya | |
| Machilus | |
| Laurophyllum | |
| Cercis | |
| Salix | |
| Cladrastis | |
| Etada | |
| Rhus | |
| Choerospondias | |
| Lindera |
