Terrestrial ecosystems on North Gondwana following the end-Permian mass extinction

Vegetation history across the Permian–Triassic boundary in Pakistan (Amb section, Salt Range)

“…Phase (IV) Lycopods dominate the flora of the middle Dienerian with abundances of up to 90%. These spore abundances are comparable to the end-Permian and middle Smithian spore spikes reported from Norway and Pakistan, respectively (Hochuli et al, 2010;Hermann et al, 2011a). Similarly high lycopod spore abundances are also present in the Dienerian assemblages from Narmia (Fig.…”

“…Similar phenomena have been described to occur in the late Permian of Norway and Greenland (Stemmerik et al, 2001;Hochuli et al, 2010), in the middle Smithian of Pakistan (Hermann et al, 2011a), and in association with the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (Slovakia, Ruckwied and Götz, 2009;Hungary, Ruckwied et al, 2008;St. Audrey's Bay, UK, Bonis and Kürschner, 2012) and the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (New Zealand, Vajda et al, 2001).…”

“…Additionally, the range-through diversity was determined, in which absences between the first and last occurrences were treated as the presence. For comparison, the generic richness and spore/pollen ratios of the previously described palynological record from the Narmia Valley were calculated and illustrated (Hermann et al, 2011a. Samples are stored in the repository of the Palaeontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich (PIMUZ repository numbers A/VI 65 and A/VI 66).…”

“…Reviews of floral records have revealed that faunal mass extinctions are commonly associated with instabilities of terrestrial ecosystems (McElwain and Punyasena, 2007). Such short-term changes, so-called spore spikes or spore peaks, have been observed at the Permian-Triassic boundary (Stemmerik et al, 2001;Hochuli et al, 2010) and during the middle Smithian (Hermann et al, 2011a). Repeated high spore relative abundances close to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary have been interpreted to reflect the vegetation's reaction to environmental changes induced by the Central Atlantic magmatic province.…”

The Triassic to Early Jurassic palynological record of the Tarim Basin, China

“…Rouse 1957;Delcourt et al 1963;Couper 1958;Balme 1995;van Konijnenburg-van Cittert 1993;Batten and Dutta 1997;Song et al 2000;Mander et al 2010;Mander 2011;Hermann et al 2011;Raine et al 2011;Bonis and Kürschner 2012) to assess broad temporal vegetation changes (Supplementary Table 2). Floras comprise a mixture of bryophytes, lycophytes, sphenophytes, ferns, pteridosperms, conifers and monosulcate pollen-producers (Fig.…”