Palaeo leaf economics reveal a 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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ftunivmaynooth:oai:mural.maynoothuniversity.ie:11749 2023-05-15T16:03:50+02:00 Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event Soh, Wuu Kuang Wright, I.J. Bacon, Karen Lenz, T.I. Steinthorsdottir, Margret Parnell, Andrew C. McElwain, Jennifer C. 2017-07 text https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/ https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/1/Parnell_Palaeo_2017.pdf en eng Nature Research https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/1/Parnell_Palaeo_2017.pdf Soh, Wuu Kuang and Wright, I.J. and Bacon, Karen and Lenz, T.I. and Steinthorsdottir, Margret and Parnell, Andrew C. and McElwain, Jennifer C. (2017) Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event. Nature Plants, 3. p. 17104. ISSN 2055-026X Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivmaynooth 2022-06-13T18:47:02Z 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 Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (National University of Ireland) Greenland |
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Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (National University of Ireland) |
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ftunivmaynooth |
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, Wuu Kuang Wright, I.J. Bacon, Karen Lenz, T.I. Steinthorsdottir, Margret Parnell, Andrew C. McElwain, Jennifer C. |
spellingShingle |
Soh, Wuu Kuang Wright, I.J. Bacon, Karen Lenz, T.I. Steinthorsdottir, Margret Parnell, Andrew C. McElwain, Jennifer C. Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
author_facet |
Soh, Wuu Kuang Wright, I.J. Bacon, Karen Lenz, T.I. Steinthorsdottir, Margret Parnell, Andrew C. McElwain, Jennifer C. |
author_sort |
Soh, Wuu Kuang |
title |
Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_short |
Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_full |
Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_fullStr |
Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_full_unstemmed |
Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event |
title_sort |
palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-triassic mass extinction event |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/ https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/1/Parnell_Palaeo_2017.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland |
op_relation |
https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/11749/1/Parnell_Palaeo_2017.pdf Soh, Wuu Kuang and Wright, I.J. and Bacon, Karen and Lenz, T.I. and Steinthorsdottir, Margret and Parnell, Andrew C. and McElwain, Jennifer C. (2017) Palaeo leaf economics reveal a shift in ecosystem function associated with the end-Triassic mass extinction event. Nature Plants, 3. p. 17104. ISSN 2055-026X |
_version_ |
1766399523202007040 |