What can we learn about ecology and evolution from the fossil record?

Jackson, Jeremy B. C.; Erwin, Douglas H.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2006.03.017

Cited by 89 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 72 publications

(110 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A critical question is whether the ecological differences between pre-and postextinction assemblages reflect deterministic processes in community assembly or just stochasticity (45,46). The observation that ecological shifts are significantly greater than expected from background variations suggests that they were dominated by ecological selection rather than random variations in the abundances of species and MOLs, i.e., ecological drift.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent ecological shifts in marine molluscan assemblages across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Aberhan

Kiessling

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Contemporary biodiversity loss and population declines threaten to push the biosphere toward a tipping point with irreversible effects on ecosystem composition and function. As a potential example of a global-scale regime shift in the geological past, we assessed ecological changes across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction based on molluscan assemblages at four well-studied sites. By contrasting preextinction and postextinction rank abundance and numerical abundance in 19 molluscan modes of lifeeach defined as a unique combination of mobility level, feeding mode, and position relative to the substrate-we find distinct shifts in ecospace utilization, which significantly exceed predictions from null models. The magnitude of change in functional traits relative to normal temporal fluctuations at far-flung sites indicates that molluscan assemblages shifted to differently structured systems and faunal response was global. The strengths of temporal ecological shifts, however, are mostly within the range of preextinction site-to-site variability, demonstrating that local ecological turnover was similar to geographic variation over a broad latitudinal range. In conjunction with varied site-specific temporal patterns of individual modes of life, these spatial and temporal heterogeneities argue against a concerted phase shift of molluscan assemblages from one well-defined regime to another. At a broader ecological level, by contrast, congruent tendencies emerge and suggest deterministic processes. These patterns comprise the well-known increase of deposit-feeding mollusks in postextinction assemblages and increases in predators and predator-resistant modes of life, i.e., those characterized by elevated mobility and infaunal life habits.end-Cretaceous mass extinction | regime shift | functional groups | mollusks | ecospace

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent ecological shifts in marine molluscan assemblages across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Aberhan

Kiessling

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In some settings, beta diversity and functional diversity appear to have remained relatively stable despite compositional changes, providing context to evaluate whether ongoing processes override those of the past few million of years (108)(109)(110). Beyond issues of the Anthropocene, there are legitimate questions concerning whether the Quaternary itself is unique and whether ecological rules evolve with the global environmental setting (19,111,112). Existing paleoecological records provide an untapped source for investigation of diversity dynamics in diverse systems and at different timespans (113,114).…”

Section: Spanning the Missing Middlementioning

confidence: 99%

Community ecology in a changing environment: Perspectives from the Quaternary

Jackson

Blois

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

156

125

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Community ecology and paleoecology are both concerned with the composition and structure of biotic assemblages but are largely disconnected. Community ecology focuses on existing species assemblages and recently has begun to integrate history (phylogeny and continental or intercontinental dispersal) to constrain community processes. This division has left a "missing middle": Ecological and environmental processes occurring on timescales from decades to millennia are not yet fully incorporated into community ecology. Quaternary paleoecology has a wealth of data documenting ecological dynamics at these timescales, and both fields can benefit from greater interaction and articulation. We discuss ecological insights revealed by Quaternary terrestrial records, suggest foundations for bridging between the disciplines, and identify topics where the disciplines can engage to mutual benefit. community ecology | Quaternary paleoecology | climate change Community ecology and Quaternary paleoecology are both concerned with the composition and structure of biotic assemblages, including patterns of spatial variation and dynamics in changing environments. Community ecology focuses on the here and now of existing species assemblages, emphasizing mechanistic understanding of local species interactions and their consequences. Quaternary paleoecology uses geohistorical evidence (1) to infer properties of past communities and how they have changed, at local to regional scales, during the past few thousand to the past 2.6 million years. Both fields are under increasing demand to inform scientists, resource managers, and policymakers of what might be in store for biodiversity and ecosystems services under ongoing and future global change (2-5). Despite their shared concerns, however, community ecology and Quaternary paleoecology are fundamentally disconnected, with relatively little engagement.

show abstract

“…Birkelund and Håkansson, 1982;Ward, 1990), and there is evidence that some species' extinctions occurred prior to the chronostratigraphical boundary, but a causal correlation between deteriorating conditions and extinction has yet to be demonstrated. To connect major pre-boundary perturbations, such as those discussed here, with extinction event(s) requires the formulation of well-defined mechanistic processes that can be rigorously tested with a suite of palaeoenvironmental proxies (Jackson and Erwin, 2006;O'Dea and Jackson, 2009) and an appreciation that at the temporal scale under observation the structure and composition of biological communities often respond to environmental perturbations in nonlinear ways due to threshold effects (Scheffer et al, 2001;Knowlton, 2004;Hsieh et al, 2005;Scheffer et al, 2009). …”

Section: Summary and Broader Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%