Editing Pliocene (section)

==Flora==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}}
The change to a cooler, drier, more seasonal climate had considerable impacts on Pliocene vegetation, reducing tropical species worldwide. [[Deciduous]] forests proliferated, [[coniferous]] forests and [[tundra]] covered much of the north, and [[grassland]]s spread on all continents (except Antarctica). Eastern Africa in particular saw a huge expansion of [[C4 carbon fixation|C<sub>4</sub>]] grasslands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Uno |first1=Kevin T. |last2=Polissar |first2=Pratigya J. |last3=Jackson |first3=Kevin E. |last4=deMenocal |first4=Peter B. |date=6 June 2016 |title=Neogene biomarker record of vegetation change in eastern Africa |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=113 |issue=23 |pages=6355–6363 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1521267113 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4988583 |pmid=27274042 |bibcode=2016PNAS..113.6355U }}</ref> Tropical forests were limited to a tight band around the equator, and in addition to dry [[savannahs]], [[deserts]] appeared in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|entry=Miocene|editor-first=Micheal A.|editor-last=Mares|title=Encyclopedia of Deserts|publisher=University of Oaklahoma Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3CbqZtaF4oC&q=pliocene%20deserts&pg=PA366|year=1999|isbn=0-8061-3146-2}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2020|reason=This entry is about the Miocene, and mentions the Pliocene but doesn't specify any of these things (it does mention glaciation though).  There is an entry on the Pliocene on page 445-446 but the first page can't be read on google books.}}