Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa

Stein, William E., Berry, Christopher Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9521-5618, Hernick, Linda VanAller and Mannolini, Frank 2012. Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa. Nature 483 (7387) , pp. 78-81. 10.1038/nature10819

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The origin of trees by the mid-Devonian epoch (398–385 million years ago) signals a major change in terrestrial ecosystems with potential long-term consequences including increased weathering, drop in atmospheric CO2, modified climate, changes in sedimentation patterns and mass extinction1, 2, 3. However, little is known about the ecology of early forests or how changes in early terrestrial ecosystems influenced global processes. One of the most famous palaeontological records for this time is the ‘oldest fossil forest’ at Riverside Quarry, Gilboa, New York, USA, discovered in the 1920s4, 5. Hundreds of large Eospermatopteris sandstone casts, now thought to represent the bases of standing cladoxylopsid trees6, were recovered from a horizon that was originally interpreted as a muddy swamp. After quarry operations ceased, relatively minor outcrops of similar fossils at nearby localities have provided limited opportunities to evaluate this pervasive view using modern methods7, 8. In 2010, removal of the quarry backfill enabled reappraisal of the palaeoecology of this important site. Here we describe a 1,200 m2 map showing numerous Eospermatopteris root systems in life position within a mixed-age stand of trees. Unexpectedly, large woody rhizomes with adventitious roots and aerial branch systems identified as aneurophytalean progymnosperms run between, and probably climb into, Eospermatopteris trees. We describe the overall habit for these surprisingly large aneurophytaleans, the earliest fossil group having wood produced by a bifacial vascular cambium. The site also provides evidence for arborescence within lycopsids, extending the North American range for trees in this ecologically critical group. The rooting horizon is a dark grey sandy mudstone showing limited root penetration. Although clearly belonging to a wetland coastal plain environment9, the forest was probably limited in duration and subject to periodic disturbance. These observations provide fundamental clarification of the palaeoecology of this mixed-group early forest, with important implications for interpreting coeval assemblage data worldwide.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects: Q Science > QE Geology
Q Science > QK Botany
Uncontrolled Keywords: Earth sciences; Palaeontology; Plant sciences; Evolution
Publisher: Macmillan
ISSN: 0028-0836
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2022 08:46
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/18956

Citation Data

Cited 87 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item