Terrestrial surface stabilisation by modern analogues of the earliest land plants: A multi-dimensional imaging study. ...
The evolution of the first plant-based terrestrial ecosystems in the early Palaeozoic had a profound effect on the development of soils, the architecture of sedimentary systems, and shifts in global biogeochemical cycles. In part, this was due to the evolution of complex below-ground (root-like) anc...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.92734 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/345311 |
| Summary: | The evolution of the first plant-based terrestrial ecosystems in the early Palaeozoic had a profound effect on the development of soils, the architecture of sedimentary systems, and shifts in global biogeochemical cycles. In part, this was due to the evolution of complex below-ground (root-like) anchorage systems in plants, which expanded and promoted plant-mineral interactions, weathering, and resulting surface sediment stabilisation. However, little is understood about how these micro-scale processes occurred, because of a lack of in situ plant fossils in sedimentary rocks/palaeosols that exhibit these interactions. Some modern plants (e.g., liverworts, mosses, lycophytes) share key features with the earliest land plants; these include uni- or multicellular rhizoid-like anchorage systems or simple roots, and the ability to develop below-ground networks through prostrate axes, and intimate associations with fungi, making them suitable analogues. Here, we investigated cryptogamic ground covers in Iceland and ... |
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