Gurung, K, Field, KJ, Batterman, SA orcid.org/0000-0002-7703-9873 et al. (5 more authors) (2022) Climate windows of opportunity for plant expansion during the Phanerozoic. Nature Communications, 13. 4530. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Earth’s long-term climate may have profoundly influenced plant evolution. Local climatic factors, including water availability, light, and temperature, play a key role in plant physiology and growth, and have fluctuated substantially over geological time. However, the impact of these key climate variables on global plant biomass across the Phanerozoic has not yet been established. Linking climate and dynamic vegetation modelling, we identify two key ‘windows of opportunity’ during the Ordovician and Jurassic-Paleogene capable of supporting dramatic expansions of potential plant biomass. These conditions are driven by continental dispersion, paleolatitude of continental area and a lack of glaciation, allowing for an intense hydrological cycle and greater water availability. These windows coincide with the initial expansion of land plants and the later angiosperm radiation. Our findings suggest that the timing and expansion of habitable space for plants played an important role in plant evolution and diversification.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Carbon cycle; Plant evolution; Software |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/S009663/1 BBSRC (Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council) BB/M026825/1 NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/M019497/1 Leverhulme Trust PLP-2019-288 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Jul 2022 12:29 |
Last Modified: | 03 Feb 2023 09:44 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-022-32077-7 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:189430 |
Download
Filename: Climate windows of opportunity for plant expansion during the Phanerozoic.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0