Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic
We report the discovery of an ancient forest bed near Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, the second such ancient deposit identified on the South Atlantic island archipelago that is today marked by the absence of native tree species. Fossil pollen, spores and wood fragments preserved in this buried de...
Published in: | Antarctic Science |
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Cambridge University Press
2024
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/1/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:538017 2024-09-30T14:27:17+00:00 Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic Thomas, Zoë A. Macphail, Michael Cadd, Haidee Cantrill, David J. Hutchinson, David K. Haines, Heather A. Privat, Karen Turney, Chris Carter, Stefanie Brickle, Paul 2024-09-09 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/1/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 en eng Cambridge University Press https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/1/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic.pdf Thomas, Zoë A.; Macphail, Michael; Cadd, Haidee; Cantrill, David J.; Hutchinson, David K.; Haines, Heather A.; Privat, Karen; Turney, Chris; Carter, Stefanie orcid:0000-0001-7713-876X Brickle, Paul. 2024 Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic. Antarctic Science. 20, pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129> cc_by_4 Ecology and Environment Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2024 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 2024-09-18T00:05:58Z We report the discovery of an ancient forest bed near Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, the second such ancient deposit identified on the South Atlantic island archipelago that is today marked by the absence of native tree species. Fossil pollen, spores and wood fragments preserved in this buried deposit at Tussac House show that the source vegetation was characterized by a floristically diverse rainforest dominated by Nothofagus-Podocarpaceae communities, similar to cool temperate Nothofagus forests/woodlands and Magellanic evergreen Nothofagus rainforests. The age limit of the deposit is inferred from the stratigraphic distribution of fossil pollen species transported by wind, birds or ocean currents from southern Patagonia, as well as similar vegetation types observed across the broader region. The deposit is suggested to be between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene, making it slightly older than the previously analysed Neogene West Point Island forest bed (200 km west of Tussac House). The combined evidence adds to our current knowledge of the role of climate change and transoceanic dispersal of plant propagules in shaping high-latitude ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere during the late Palaeogene and Neogene. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Patagonia Antarctic Science 1 20 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology and Environment |
spellingShingle |
Ecology and Environment Thomas, Zoë A. Macphail, Michael Cadd, Haidee Cantrill, David J. Hutchinson, David K. Haines, Heather A. Privat, Karen Turney, Chris Carter, Stefanie Brickle, Paul Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
topic_facet |
Ecology and Environment |
description |
We report the discovery of an ancient forest bed near Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, the second such ancient deposit identified on the South Atlantic island archipelago that is today marked by the absence of native tree species. Fossil pollen, spores and wood fragments preserved in this buried deposit at Tussac House show that the source vegetation was characterized by a floristically diverse rainforest dominated by Nothofagus-Podocarpaceae communities, similar to cool temperate Nothofagus forests/woodlands and Magellanic evergreen Nothofagus rainforests. The age limit of the deposit is inferred from the stratigraphic distribution of fossil pollen species transported by wind, birds or ocean currents from southern Patagonia, as well as similar vegetation types observed across the broader region. The deposit is suggested to be between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene, making it slightly older than the previously analysed Neogene West Point Island forest bed (200 km west of Tussac House). The combined evidence adds to our current knowledge of the role of climate change and transoceanic dispersal of plant propagules in shaping high-latitude ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere during the late Palaeogene and Neogene. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas, Zoë A. Macphail, Michael Cadd, Haidee Cantrill, David J. Hutchinson, David K. Haines, Heather A. Privat, Karen Turney, Chris Carter, Stefanie Brickle, Paul |
author_facet |
Thomas, Zoë A. Macphail, Michael Cadd, Haidee Cantrill, David J. Hutchinson, David K. Haines, Heather A. Privat, Karen Turney, Chris Carter, Stefanie Brickle, Paul |
author_sort |
Thomas, Zoë A. |
title |
Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
title_short |
Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
title_full |
Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
title_fullStr |
Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic |
title_sort |
evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the falkland archipelago in the remote south atlantic during the mid- to late cenozoic |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/1/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic.pdf https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 |
geographic |
Patagonia |
geographic_facet |
Patagonia |
genre |
Antarctic Science |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538017/1/evidence-for-a-floristically-diverse-rainforest-on-the-falkland-archipelago-in-the-remote-south-atlantic-during-the-mid-to-late-cenozoic.pdf Thomas, Zoë A.; Macphail, Michael; Cadd, Haidee; Cantrill, David J.; Hutchinson, David K.; Haines, Heather A.; Privat, Karen; Turney, Chris; Carter, Stefanie orcid:0000-0001-7713-876X Brickle, Paul. 2024 Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic. Antarctic Science. 20, pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102024000129 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
20 |
_version_ |
1811633428078002176 |