Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event
Climate change is likely to have altered the ecological functioning of past ecosystems, and is likely to alter functioning in the future; however, the magnitude and direction of such changes are difficult to predict. Here we use a deep-time case study to evaluate the impact of a well-constrained CO2...
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120959 2023-05-15T16:03:50+02:00 Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event Soh, WK Wright, IJ Bacon, K Lenz, TI Steinthorsdottir, M Parnell, AC McElwain, JC 2017-07-17 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/8/Soh%20et%20al%202017%20NaturePlants.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/13/Soh%20et%20al%20figures.pdf en eng Nature Publishing Group https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/8/Soh%20et%20al%202017%20NaturePlants.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/13/Soh%20et%20al%20figures.pdf Soh, WK, Wright, IJ, Bacon, K orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-5107 et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event. Nature Plants, 3. 17104. ISSN 2055-026X Article NonPeerReviewed 2017 ftleedsuniv 2023-01-30T21:58:32Z Climate change is likely to have altered the ecological functioning of past ecosystems, and is likely to alter functioning in the future; however, the magnitude and direction of such changes are difficult to predict. Here we use a deep-time case study to evaluate the impact of a well-constrained CO2-induced global warming event on the ecological functioning of dominant plant communities. We use leaf mass per area (LMA), a widely used trait in modern plant ecology, to infer the palaeoecological strategy of fossil plant taxa. We show that palaeo-LMA can be inferred from fossil leaf cuticles based on a tight relationship between LMA and cuticle thickness observed among extant gymnosperms. Application of this new palaeo-LMA proxy to fossil gymnosperms from East Greenland reveals significant shifts in the dominant ecological strategies of vegetation found across the Triassic–Jurassic transition. Late Triassic forests, dominated by low-LMA taxa with inferred high transpiration rates and short leaf lifespans, were replaced in the Early Jurassic by forests dominated by high-LMA taxa that were likely to have slower metabolic rates. We suggest that extreme CO2-induced global warming selected for taxa with high LMA associated with a stress-tolerant strategy and that adaptive plasticity in leaf functional traits such as LMA contributed to post-warming ecological success. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Greenland |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Climate change is likely to have altered the ecological functioning of past ecosystems, and is likely to alter functioning in the future; however, the magnitude and direction of such changes are difficult to predict. Here we use a deep-time case study to evaluate the impact of a well-constrained CO2-induced global warming event on the ecological functioning of dominant plant communities. We use leaf mass per area (LMA), a widely used trait in modern plant ecology, to infer the palaeoecological strategy of fossil plant taxa. We show that palaeo-LMA can be inferred from fossil leaf cuticles based on a tight relationship between LMA and cuticle thickness observed among extant gymnosperms. Application of this new palaeo-LMA proxy to fossil gymnosperms from East Greenland reveals significant shifts in the dominant ecological strategies of vegetation found across the Triassic–Jurassic transition. Late Triassic forests, dominated by low-LMA taxa with inferred high transpiration rates and short leaf lifespans, were replaced in the Early Jurassic by forests dominated by high-LMA taxa that were likely to have slower metabolic rates. We suggest that extreme CO2-induced global warming selected for taxa with high LMA associated with a stress-tolerant strategy and that adaptive plasticity in leaf functional traits such as LMA contributed to post-warming ecological success. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Soh, WK Wright, IJ Bacon, K Lenz, TI Steinthorsdottir, M Parnell, AC McElwain, JC |
spellingShingle |
Soh, WK Wright, IJ Bacon, K Lenz, TI Steinthorsdottir, M Parnell, AC McElwain, JC Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
author_facet |
Soh, WK Wright, IJ Bacon, K Lenz, TI Steinthorsdottir, M Parnell, AC McElwain, JC |
author_sort |
Soh, WK |
title |
Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_short |
Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_full |
Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_fullStr |
Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_full_unstemmed |
Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_sort |
paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-triassic mass extinction event |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/8/Soh%20et%20al%202017%20NaturePlants.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/13/Soh%20et%20al%20figures.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/8/Soh%20et%20al%202017%20NaturePlants.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/120959/13/Soh%20et%20al%20figures.pdf Soh, WK, Wright, IJ, Bacon, K orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-5107 et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Paleo-leaf economics reveal a dramatic shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event. Nature Plants, 3. 17104. ISSN 2055-026X |
_version_ |
1766399517411770368 |