Current knowledge of terrestrial ecosystem response to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ca. 56 Ma) is largely based on the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. To more fully reconstruct global terrestrial ecosystem response to the PETM, we generated vegetation and biomarker proxy records from an outcrop section on the southern coast of Australia (∼60°S paleolatitude). We documented a rapid, massive, and sustained vegetation turnover as a response to regional PETM warming of ∼1–4 °C, abruptly transitioning from a warm temperate to a meso-megathermal rain forest similar to that of present-day northeastern Queensland, Australia. The onset of this vegetation change preceded the characteristic PETM carbon-isotope excursion (CIE) by several thousand years. The reconstructed ecosystem change is much stronger than in other Southern Hemisphere records, highlighting the need for consideration of regional paleoceanographic, paleogeographic, and biogeographic characteristics to fully understand the global terrestrial ecosystem response to PETM climate forcing.

中文翻译：

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在古新世-始新世热最大值开始时，中超高温雨林迅速扩展到南部高纬度地区

对陆地生态系统对古新世-始新世热最大值（PETM；约56 Ma）的响应的当前知识主要基于北半球的中纬度。为了更全面地重建全球陆地生态系统对PETM的响应，我们从澳大利亚南部海岸（古纬60度）的露头部分生成了植被和生物标志物代用记录。我们记录了快速，大量和持续的植被更新，以响应大约1-4°C的区域PETM变暖，从暖温带突然转变为类似于当今澳大利亚东北昆士兰州的中高温雨林。 。这种植被变化的开始比特征性的PETM碳同位素偏移（CIE）早了数千年。