T285 Recoveries from Mass Extinction: Patterns, Processes, and Comparisons I
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The End-Permian Biotic Crisis: A Botanical Perspective of the Recovery
Paper number: T285-15
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Authors
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Cindy V. Looy Presenting AuthorNational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Abstract
The Mesozoic biosphere had a rough start as the end-Permian biotic crisis (~250 mya) profoundly altered terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. In widely separated areas, irrespective of floral province and climatic zone, the abundance of pollen types reflects a strong decline of woody gymnospermous vegetation. The paleobotanical record indicates that the dieback of dominant gymnosperms was a global event that dramatically affected terrestrial ecosystems. Several typical Late Permian taxa, such as the Glossopteridales of Gondwanaland, the Cordaites of Angaraland, as well as a variety of Euramerican, Cathaysian and Angaran conifers, became extinct. A period of lycopsid and seedfern domination followed. In Europe, ecosystem recovery to precrisis levels of structure and function took 4 to 5 million years. Based on recent literature, the floral sequence of events following the end-Permian biotic crisis will be described using palynological and paleobotanical records.