I view this as a crucial study that amalgamates paleo-ecological data with a process-based model. Nevertheless, I'm inclined to believe that employing LandClim in the manner proposed by the authors doesn't significantly enhance the knowledge they've already accumulated from palaeoecological research. I propose ideas in my feedback (attached) with the goal of revising the introduction to align it more closely with the actual capabilities of LandClim. In addition, I think the whole research needs to be more hypothesis guided so the actual questions are ecologically meaningful.

Thank you for addressing all my comments; I very much like the new version and although I have reservations about your argument on how process-based models contribute to validating competing hypotheses, I acknowledge that in the field of paleoecology, there are limited tools available to provide clarity on such dilemmas.