China's Beech Forests in the Pre-Quaternary

• Main Authors: L. Yu-Sheng, W. Wei-Ming, A. Momohara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 1998-01-01
• Series: Fossil Record
• Online Access: http://www.foss-rec.net/1/151/1998/fr-1-151-1998.pdf

<i>Fagus</i> in China is never dominant in Late Cretaceous and Tertiary floras although it might reach its highest diversity in the Miocene. The genus <i>Fagus</i> was more widely distributed during the Palaeogene than in the Neogene. Furthermore, the ecological requirements of <i>Fagus</i> in the Palaeogene seem much broader than those in the Neogene onwards. This is because the Palaeogene floras containing <i>Fagus</i> lived in various conditions from an arid and hot climate to a humid and warm habitat. Additionally, <i>Fagus</i> then coexisted with many kinds of hygrophilous, thermophilous and xerophilous plants. However, the wide distribution, broad ecological adaptation and species composition changed greatly in the Neogene. The Neogene <i>Fagus</i>-containing floras are slightly more similar to the modern beech forests than the Palaeogene ones, although a big difference remains. Chinese fossil data document the post-Tertiary development of the modern beech forests. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.19980010111" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.19980010111</a>