Reconstructing climate with crestr

A universal R package to analyse palaeoecological datasets from terrestrial, lacustrine, and marine environments.

I developed crestr to promote the use of the CREST climate reconstruction method I developed manytears back now. The package is entirely open source and anybody can use it in R.

Detailed documentation is available on the package’s webpage.

You can quickly visualise how to run a reconstruction with the crestr cheat sheet. This document summarises the main functionalities of the package and illustrates the main key step you will have to follow to reconsturct environmental parameters from your data. download here

Example applications


(A) density of presence records available in my calibration dataset upscaled at a 1° resolution. The diamonds represent the location of the pollen records used to generate the reconstructions presented in B-D, and the coloured boxes represent the extent of their respective calibration zones. (B) Annual precipitation reconstructions from Lake Van, Turkey (Chevalier, 2019), (C) Mean annual temperature reconstruction from Laguna Fùquene, Colombia (unpublished) and (D) Mean Annual temperature reconstruction from marine core MD96-2048 (Chevalier et al., 2021).

CREST in the scientific literature

Location of real_world crest-based climate reconstructions. All these examples showcase CREST’s ability to contribute to global climate research and advance our understanding of regional environmental changes.

  • 2025
    • Gao, M., You, L., Hu, G., Chevalier, M., Teng, X., Feng, Q., Chen, Y., Jin, F., Yang, R., Zhang, J., 2025. Palynological and geochemical evidence for East Asian monsoon evolution from the northern South China Sea during the middle to late Eocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 666, 112837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.112837
    • Chevalier, M., Gosling, W.D., Hooghiemstra, H., Cartapanis, O., Chase, B.M., Kaboth-Bahr, S., 2025. Eccentricity-driven glacial climate variability and its influence on speciation in the tropical Andes. Quaternary Science Advances 18, 100278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2025.100278
    • Gosling, W.D., 2025. A multi-model approach to the spatial and temporal characterization of the African Humid Period. Quaternary International 744, 109933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109933
    • Umbo, S., Panitz, S., Homann, J., McCoy, J., Pound, M., Opel, T., Lechleitner, F., Vaks, A., Osintzev, A., Adrian, I., Kononov, A., Breitenbach, S.F.M., 2025. Late Miocene speleothems show significant warming, temperate vegetation, and wildfires in Arctic Siberia. Sci Rep 15, 28420. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12287-x
    • Martin-Ramos, P., Castilla-Beltrán, A., Davtian, N., Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Fernández-Palacios, E., Naranjo-Cigala, A., Nogué, S., Villanueva, J., Wilmshurst, J.M., De Nascimento, L., 2025. Millennial-scale climatic variability and fire regimes and their impacts on vegetation in Gran Canaria since 28 cal ka BP. Quaternary Science Reviews 369, 109576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109576
    • Herzschuh, U., Böhmer, T., Jia, W., Lisovski, S., 2025. Quantitative climate reconstruction from sedimentary ancient DNA: framework, validation and application. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2678
    • Herzschuh, U., Stoof-Leichsenring, K.R., Farkas, L.Z., Liu, Y., Liu, S., Böhmer, T., Baisheva, I., Biskaborn, B.K., Courtin, J., Diekmann, B., Epp, L.S., Von Hippel, B., Huang, S., Huang, Y., Jia, W., Kaufman, D.S., Meyer, H., Melles, M., Meucci, S., Pestryakova, L.A., Schulte, L., Wagner, B., Wang, Z., Zakharov, E.S., 2025. Dynamic connectivities of plant metacommunities at a millennial time-scale: the Beringia testbed. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.19.671027
  • 2024
    • Trasune, L., Väliranta, M., Stivrins, N., Amon, L., Schenk, F., Salonen, J.S., 2024. A comparison of plant macrofossil-based quantitative climate reconstruction methods: A case study of the lateglacial Baltic States. Quaternary Science Reviews 338, 108811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108811
    • McCoy, J., Gibson, M.E., Hocking, E.P., O’Keefe, J.M.K., Riding, J.B., Roberts, R., Campbell, S., Abbott, G.D., Pound, M.J., 2024. Temperate to tropical palaeoclimates on the northwest margin of Europe during the middle Cenozoic. Palaeontol Electron. https://doi.org/10.26879/1349
    • O’Keefe, J.M.K., Pound, M.J., Romero, I.C., Nuñez Otaño, N.B., Gibson, M.E., McCoy, J., Alden, M.E., Fairchild, C.J., Fitzpatrick, J., Hodgson, E., Horsfall, T., Jones, S., Lennex-Stone, J.E., Marsh, C.A., Patel, A.A., Spears, T.M., Tarlton, L., Smallwood, L.F., VanderEspt, O.L., Cabrera, J.R., Eble, C.F., Rember, W.C., Starnes, J.E., Alford, M.H., Brink, A., Warny, S., 2024. Summer-Wet Hydrologic Cycle during the Middle Miocene of the United States: New Evidence from Fossil Fungi. Research 7, 0481. https://doi.org/10.34133/research.0481
  • 2023
    • Pilie, M., Gibson, M.E., Romero, I.C., Nuñez Otaño, N.B., Pound, M.J., O’Keefe, J.M.K., Warny, S., 2023. Miocene Climatic Optimum fungal record and plant-based CREST climatic reconstruction from southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. J. Micropalaeontol. 42, 291–307. https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-42-291-2023
    • Hui, Z., Wei, X., Xue, Z., Zhao, X., Chevalier, M., Lu, X., Zhang, J., Peng, T., Chen, Y., Chen, P., 2023,Middle Miocene Evolution of East Asian Summer Monsoon Precipitation in the Northeast Part of the Tibetan Plateau Based on a Quantitative Analysis of Palynological Records. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, pp 111808. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111808.
    • Hui, Z., Liu, J., Chevalier, M., Wei, X., Chen, P., Zhan, J., Peng, T., Zhou, X., 2023, Multiple forcing on Late Miocene East Asian Summer Monsoon Precipitation Variability in NE Tibetan Plateau. CATENA 221, 106752. 10.1016/j.catena.2022.106752.
  • 2022
    • Gibson, M.E., McCoy, J., O’Keefe, J.M.K., Nuñez Otaño, N.B., Warny, S., Pound, M.J., 2022, Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoclimates: A Comparison of the Co‐Existence Approach, Bayesian and Probability Reconstruction Techniques Using the UK Neogene. Paleoceanog. and Paleoclimatol. 37, e2021PA004358. 10.1029/2021PA004358
  • 2021
    • Chevalier, M., Chase, B.M., Quick, L.J., Dupont, L.M. and Johnson, T.C., 2021, Temperature change in subtropical southeastern Africa during the past 790,000 yr. Geology, 49, pp. 71–75. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110609
    • Hui, Z., Zhou, X., Chevalier, M., Wei, X., Pan, Y. and Chen, Y., 2021, Miocene East Asia summer monsoon precipitation variability and its possible driving forces. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, pp. 110609. 10.1130/G47841.1
    • Quick, L.J., Chase, B.M., Carr, A.S., Chevalier, M., Grobler, B.A. and Meadows, M.E., 2021, A 25,000 year record of climate and vegetation change from the southwestern Cape coast, South Africa. Quaternary Research, pp. 1–18. 10.1017/qua.2021.31
    • Romero, I. C., Nuñez Otaño, N. B., Gibson, M. E., Spears, T. M., Fairchild, C. J., Tarlton, L., Jones, S., Belkin, H. E., Warny, S., Pound, M. J. and O’Keefe, J. M. K., 2021, First Record of Fungal Diversity in the Tropical and Warm-Temperate Middle Miocene Climate Optimum Forests of Eurasia, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 1–18. 10.3389/ffgc.2021.768405
  • 2020
    • Yi, S., Jun, C.P., Jo, K. nam, Lee, H., Kim, M.S., Lee, S.D., Cao, X. and Lim, J., 2020, Asynchronous multi-decadal time-scale series of biotic and abiotic responses to precipitation during the last 1300 years. Scientific Reports, 10, pp. 1–10. 10.1038/s41598-020-74994-x
  • 2019
    • Chevalier, M., 2019, Enabling possibilities to quantify past climate from fossil assemblages at a global scale. Global and Planetary Change, 175, pp. 27–35. 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.01.016
  • 2017
    • Cordova, C.E., Scott, L., Chase, B.M. and Chevalier, M., 2017, Late Pleistocene-Holocene vegetation and climate change in the Middle Kalahari, Lake Ngami, Botswana. Quaternary Science Reviews, 171, pp. 199–215. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.06.036
  • 2016
    • Lim, S., Chase, B.M., Chevalier, M. and Reimer, P.J., 2016, 50,000 years of climate in the Namib Desert, Pella, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 451, pp. 197–209. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.03.001
    • Chevalier, M. and Chase, B.M., 2016, Determining the drivers of long-term aridity variability: a southern African case study. Journal of Quaternary Science, 31, pp. 143–151. 10.1002/jqs.2850
  • 2015
    • Chase, B.M., Lim, S., Chevalier, M., Boom, A., Carr, A.S., Meadows, M.E. and Reimer, P.J., 2015, Influence of tropical easterlies in the southwestern Cape of Africa during the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 107, pp. 138–148.10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.10.011
    • Chase, B.M., Boom, A., Carr, A.S., Carré, M., Chevalier, M., Meadows, M.E., Pedro, J.B., Stager, J.C. and Reimer, P.J., 2015, Evolving southwest African response to abrupt deglacial North Atlantic climate change events. Quaternary Science Reviews, 121, pp. 132–136. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.05.023
    • Chevalier, M. and Chase, B.M., 2015, Southeast African records reveal a coherent shift from high- to low-latitude forcing mechanisms along the east African margin across last glacial–interglacial transition. Quaternary Science Reviews, 125, pp. 117–130. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.07.009
  • 2013
    • Truc, L., Chevalier, M., Favier, C., Cheddadi, R., Meadows, M.E., Scott, L., Carr, A.S., Smith, G.F. and Chase, B.M., 2013, Quantification of climate change for the last 20,000 years from Wonderkrater, South Africa: implications for the long-term dynamics of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 386, pp. 575–587. 10.1016/j.palaeo


Last update: 21/10/2025

N.B.: This list is as exhaustive as possible, but some studies may be missing. Contact me if you want your study to be added.


References

  • Chevalier, M., Cheddadi, R., Chase, B.M., 2014. CREST (Climate REconstruction SofTware): a probability density function (PDF)-based quantitative climate reconstruction method. Clim. Past 10, 2081–2098. 10.5194/cp-10-2081-2014
  • Chevalier, M., 2019. Enabling possibilities to quantify past climate from fossil assemblages at a global scale. Glob. Planet. Change 175, 27–35. 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.01.016
  • Chevalier, M., Chase, B.M., Quick, L.J., Dupont, L.M. and Johnson, T.C., 2021. Temperature change in subtropical southeastern Africa during the past 790,000 yr. Geology 49, 71–75. 10.1130/G47841.1
  • Chevalier, M., 2022. crestr an R package to perform probabilistic climate reconstructions from palaeoecological datasets. Clim. Past doi:10.5194/cp-18-821-2022