Survivorship dynamics of the flora of Devonian Angarida

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Main Authors: Dowding, Elizabeth M., Akulov, Nikolay Ivanovich, Mashchuk, Irina Mikhailovna
• Other Authors: Volkswagen Foundation, the Institute of the Earth's Crust of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Research Council of Norway
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2023
• Subjects: Yakutsk; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1079; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2022.1079; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2022.1079

Devonian plants in Siberia present protracted pioneer succession. Research into the survivorship dynamics of early plant communities upon the palaeocontinent Angarida have demonstrated that transgression and volcanogenic nutrient influx were key to the survival of colonizing plants. Taxic proportions show that migrating taxa entered Angarida from the southwest, Kuznetsk and Minusinsk basins, dispersing across the continent in waves through central areas northwards. The patterns of dispersal are consistent throughout the Devonian. Increased nutrient load from the active pulses of the Viluy-Yakutsk Large Igneous Province, biogeomorphic ecosystem engineering and the increased biomass of Angaridan plants are assisted by Late Devonian transgression. These cumulative factors can be linked to the Late Devonian marine extinctions observed in Siberia.