Palaeoecology of Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, and its implications for resolving the paradox of ‘xeromorphic’ plants in Pennsylvanian wetlands

Stull, Gregory W.; DiMichele, William A.; Falcon-Lang, Howard J.; Nelson, W. John; Elrick, Scott D.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.03.019

Cited by 37 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 129 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These three genera (or their close relatives) have been reconstructed as small trees and shrubs (Pfefferkorn et al, 1984;Shute and Cleal, 2002;Zodrow et al, 2007), consistent with the observed woody stumps, and the same three genera have been interpreted as fringing coastlines in the Lower Pennsylvanian Lancaster Formation ('Fern Ledges') in New Brunswick (Falcon-Lang and Miller, 2007). To what degree this medullosalean-dominated coastal vegetation was saline-tolerant is uncertain (Stull et al, 2012) rhomboideus shares features with some progymnosperms, and "S." valida is similar to the putative noeggerathialean Palaeopteridium michiganensis (cf. Arnold, 1949;Álvarez-Vázquez, 1995).…”

Section: Coastal Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 85%

A Marine Incursion In the Lower Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, Canada: Implications For Paleogeography, Stratigraphy and Paleoecology

Falcon-Lang

Pufahl

Bashforth

et al. 2015

PALAIOS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We document the occurrence of a marine bed, and its associated biota, in the Lower Pennsylvanian (Langsettian) Tynemouth Creek Formation of New Brunswick, and discuss its implications for paleogeography, stratigraphy and paleoecology. This is only the second marine interval found in the entire Pennsylvanian fill of the Maritimes Basin of Canada, the other being recently found in the broadly same-age Joggins Formation of Nova Scotia. Evidence for the new marine transgression comprises an echinoderm-rich limestone that infills irregularities on a vertic paleosol surface within the distal facies of a syntectonic fluvial megafan formed under a seasonally dry tropical climate. Gray, platy ostracod-rich shales and wave-rippled sandstone beds that directly overlie the marine limestone contain trace fossils characteristic of the Mermia Ichnofacies, upright woody trees, and adpressed megafloras. This association represents bay-fills fringed by freshwater coastal forests dominated by pteridosperms, cordaites, and other enigmatic plants traditionally attributed to dryland/upland habitats. The fossil site demonstrates that marine transgressions extended farther into the interior of Pangea than has previously been documented, and may allow correlation of the Tynemouth Creek and Joggins Formations with broadly coeval European successions near the level of the Gastrioceras subcrenatum and G. listeri marine bands. It also helps explain the close similarity of faunas between the Maritimes Basin and other paleotropical basins, if transgressions facilitated migration of marine taxa into the continental interior.

show abstract

Section: Coastal Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 85%

A Marine Incursion In the Lower Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, Canada: Implications For Paleogeography, Stratigraphy and Paleoecology

Falcon-Lang

Pufahl

Bashforth

et al. 2015

PALAIOS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even recently the term xeromorphy has been used for some features of wetland plants (see review by Stull et al. ) due to confusion between xeromorphy (related to water deficit) and scleromorphy (related to nutrient deficit, especially phosphorus, see Hill ). Although some foliar features of xeromorphy are similar or identical to those of scleromorphy, there are significant structural differences which can allow the two syndromes to be differentiated (Hill ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The foliar change from seedlings to adults in Allocasuarina (Casuarinaceae): the evolutionary and ecological aspects of leaf reduction, xeromorphy and scleromorphy

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The morpho‐anatomical structure of the adult photosynthetic organs of the Casuarinaceae is unique in plants. We examine the shoot structure of five species from Allocasuarina ‐ the most derived genus in the family. While the cotyledons of seedlings are similar to those of many other plants the subsequent leaves form a whorl of chlorenchymatic tissue fused to the cortex of the articles of segmented branchlets with only the leaf tips free at the apex of each article. Each leaf in the whorl is called a phyllichnium and consists of a vascular trace below the photosynthetic chlorenchyma with sclerenchyma developed within the mesophyll. The branchlets of Allocasuarina are considered xeromorphic as the stomata of most species are restricted to the sides of the furrows formed by the closely appressed edges of the phyllichnia. The scleromorphic foliage of the ancestral Casuarinaceae may have developed from adaptation to nutrient poor soils but was also preadapted to confer drought resistance. The narrow foliage with abundant sclerenchyma, restricted stomatal area and minimal distance from the atmosphere to xylem tissues ensured that the genus could become competitively successful on impoverished soils and be a distinctive component of arid and even mesic woodlands and forests in Australia.

show abstract

“…1a;Chapin 1980;Chabot & Hicks 1982;Givnish 2002). There is parity in inferences of leaf habit from lowlatitude fossil ecosystems and extant tropical ecosystems (DiMichele et al 2010;Falcon-Lang et al 2011;Stull et al 2012); however, the disparity in the dominance of extant evergreen floras at modern high latitudes and interpretations of dominantly deciduous floras at high palaeolatitudes suggests that our understanding of plant migration and the ecology of plants at high latitudes is poor. Thus, to better understand plant-climate interactions in deep time it is important to understand broad-scale patterns in leaf longevity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf habit of Late PermianGlossopteristrees from high-palaeolatitude forests

Gulbranson

Ryberg

Decombeix

et al. 2014

JGS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The leaf longevity of trees, deciduous or evergreen, plays an important role in climate feedbacks and plant ecology. in modern forests of the high latitudes, evergreen trees dominate; however, the fossil record indicates that deciduous vegetation dominated during some previous warm intervals. We show, through an integration of palaeobotanical techniques and isotope geochemistry of trees in one of the earliest polar forests (Late Permian, c. 260 Ma, Antarctica), that the arborescent glossopterid taxa were both deciduous and evergreen, with a greater abundance of evergreen trees occurring in the studied forests. These new findings suggest the possibility that deciduousness was a plastic trait in ancient polar plants, and that deciduous plants, migrating poleward from lower latitudes, were probably better adapted to high-disturbance areas in environments that were light-limited.

show abstract

Palaeoecology of Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, and its implications for resolving the paradox of ‘xeromorphic’ plants in Pennsylvanian wetlands

Cited by 37 publications

References 129 publications

A Marine Incursion In the Lower Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, Canada: Implications For Paleogeography, Stratigraphy and Paleoecology

A Marine Incursion In the Lower Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, Canada: Implications For Paleogeography, Stratigraphy and Paleoecology

The foliar change from seedlings to adults in Allocasuarina (Casuarinaceae): the evolutionary and ecological aspects of leaf reduction, xeromorphy and scleromorphy

Leaf habit of Late PermianGlossopteristrees from high-palaeolatitude forests

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About