Is the vegetation archetype of the Garden of Eden located in the Irano-Turanian region and safe against climate change?

The search for the Garden of Eden has been going on for centuries. However, no one has yet attempted to associate it with the occurrence of a specific natural type of vegetation. We are also not aware what its current state and chances of survival are. In this work, we try to define the vegetation of Paradise, to visualize its past and predict its future in a climate-changing world. We selected 941 vegetation samples meeting the criteria extracted from biblical descriptions and assigned them to 12 different woody and grove vegetation types. Based on the analysis of functional traits (the fruiting type as well as the start, end and duration of the fruiting and flowering season), taxonomic and ethnobotanical diversity, we found that the most probable archetype of Eden’s vegetation is the Pistacia khinjuk grove. The identification and preservation of the vegetation in which Man found safe shelter at the dawn of civilization is of fundamental importance for all humanity, and thus, we model its past extent and future perspectives. We found that Adam and Eve’s refuge may disappear during our children’s lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Environmental Change is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)