Plant Taphonomy in Fluvial and Lacustrine Systems

1986 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 10-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Spicer ◽  
Anthony G. Greer
Keyword(s):  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Plant Organs ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Depositional System ◽  
Organ Type ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Biased Samples

Plant fossil assemblages are biased samples of the capacity of the once living source vegetation to produce litter (leaves, flowers, pollen, spores, fruits, seeds, twigs, branches, trunks, roots etc.). The “image” that the depositional system “sees” of the vegetation is in terms of isolated plant organs (or parts of organs) that are produced in greater or lesser quantities depending on the organ type. For instance throughout the life of a tree hundreds of thousands of leaves, many millions of pollen grains but only one trunk are produced. Only very rarely do plant fossil assemblages consist of entire or nearly entire plants. Instead assemblages consist of a mixture of organs in various states of completeness derived from a number of different taxa (each of which produces different organs in different relative amounts) growing at various distances from the depositional site.

Major Patterns in Botanical Diversity

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Peter R. Crane
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Fossil Plants ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Rich

At a time when the popular perception of paleontology is dominated by images of dinosaurs and other spectacular vertebrates, or the mysteries surrounding the Cambrian “explosion” of animal life, it is perhaps not surprising that the rich and informative fossil record of plants has scarcely made an impact on the public consciousness. In reality, as one would expect from those organisms that comprise the bulk of the biological material in terrestrial ecosystems, the fossil record of plants is extensive (Stewart and Rothwell, 1993). Leaves, wood fragments, pollen grains, spores, fruits, seeds and other plant parts are the most common fossils in rocks deposited in ancient flood plains, lakes and many other environments - and they are often exquisitely preserved. This excellent fossil record provides important information about the ecology of ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The quality of the plant fossil record also makes paleobotanical data highly informative about the historical pattern of plant evolution. It is this pattern, and its congruence with patterns in the characters of living and fossil plants — as summarized in a classification — that is the focus of this chapter.

Changes in dominance patterns in upper Carboniferous plant-fossil assemblages

Geology ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann W. Pfefferkorn ◽  
Margaret C. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Upper Carboniferous ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Fossil Assemblages

Plant assemblages from the Shafer Peak Formation (Lower Jurassic), north Victoria Land, Transantarctic Mountains

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bomfleur ◽  
Christian Pott ◽  
Hans Kerp
Keyword(s):  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Plant Assemblages ◽  
Transantarctic Mountains ◽  
Continental Interior ◽  
Warm Temperate ◽  
Volcanic Environment

AbstractThe Jurassic plant fossil record of Gondwana is generally meagre, which renders phytogeographic and palaeoclimatic interpretations difficult to date. Moreover, plant fossil assemblages mainly consist of impressions/compressions with rather limited palaeobiological and palaeoecological significance. We here present a detailed survey of new Early Jurassic plant assemblages from the Pliensbachian Shafer Peak Formation, north Victoria Land, Transantarctic Mountains. Some of the well-preserved fossils yield cuticle. The floras consist of isoetalean lycophytes, sphenophytes, several ferns, bennettitaleans, and conifers. In addition, three distinct kinds of conifer shoots and needles were obtained from bulk macerations. The composition of the plant communities is typical for Jurassic macrofloras of Gondwana, which underscores the general homogeneity of Southern Hemisphere vegetation during the mid-Mesozoic. Altogether, the plant fossil assemblages indicate humid and warm temperate conditions, which is in contrast to recent palaeoclimatic models that predict cool temperate climates for the continental interior of southern Gondwana during the Jurassic. However, there is no evidence for notable soil development or peat accumulation. The environmental conditions were apparently very unstable due to intense volcanic activity that resulted in frequent perturbation of landscape and vegetation, hampering the development of long-lived climax communities. Cuticles of bennettitaleans and conifers show xeromorphic features that may have been beneficial for growth in this volcanic environment.

The environmental implications of upper Paleozoic plant-fossil assemblages with mixtures of wetland and drought-tolerant taxa in tropical Pangea

Geobios ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arden R. Bashforth ◽  
William A. DiMichele ◽  
Cortland F. Eble ◽  
Howard J. Falcon-Lang ◽  
Cindy V. Looy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Upper Paleozoic ◽  
Fossil Assemblages

Gametic selection during wheat anther culture

Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. De Buyser ◽  
B. Bachelier ◽  
Y. Henry
Keyword(s):  
Anther Culture ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
In Vitro Cultures ◽  
Male Gametes ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Gametic Selection ◽  
Biased Samples

Gametic selection was investigated in a monosomic 1D line of wheat. Comparison of chromosome numbers in progenies from cross- or self-pollination and anther culture indicated the frequency of the different types of gametes acting in zygote formation. The progenies obtained from reciprocal crosses (monosomic × euploid) were different in terms of frequencies of monosomic plants. All the pollen grains do not have an equal probability of fertilization since a strong gametic selection for euhaploid male gametes was observed when the monosomic line was used as male parent; only 13% of the nullisomic survived to embryogenesis and seed germination. Regenerants from anther culture also demonstrated that the percentage of nullihaploids was reduced, indicating a strong selection for euhaploid gametes. A comparison between the frequency of male nullihaploid gametes in the cross disomic × monosomic and in the anther culture revealed that the two processes generate the same gamete transmission. The in vitro cultures do not induce more selection pressure than the embryogenic development even if they are together biased samples of the male gametic population.

Major Patterns in Botanical Diversity

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 139-150
Author(s):  
Peter R. Crane
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Fossil Plants ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Rich

At a time when the popular perception of paleontology is dominated by images of dinosaurs and other spectacular vertebrates, or the mysteries surrounding the Cambrian “explosion” of animal life, it is perhaps not surprising that the rich and informative fossil record of plants has scarcely made an impact on the public consciousness. In reality, as one would expect from those organisms that comprise the bulk of the biological material in terrestrial ecosystems, the fossil record of plants is extensive (Stewart and Rothwell, 1993). Leaves, wood fragments, pollen grains, spores, fruits, seeds, and other plant parts are the most common fossils in rocks deposited in ancient flood plains, lakes, and many other environments—and they are often exquisitely preserved. This excellent fossil record provides important information about the ecology of ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The quality of the plant fossil record also makes paleobotanical data highly informative about the historical pattern of plant evolution. It is this pattern, and its congruence with patterns in the characters of living and fossil plants—as summarized in a classification—that is the focus of this chapter.

The Last 30,000 Years of Faunal History within the Grand Canyon, Arizona

1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim I. Mead
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Grand Canyon ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Desert Tortoise ◽  
Vertebrate Fauna ◽  
Mammalian Herbivores ◽  
Plant Fossil ◽  
Fossil Assemblages

AbstractThe vertebrate fauna of the last 30,000 radiocarbon years in the Grand Canyon is reviewed. Faunas accompanied with 92 14C dates have been analyzed from nine cave sites (four systematically excavated) and 50 packrat middens. Reasonably precise chronological and environmental data of late Pleistocene and Holocene age were obtained through dung studies in Rampart, Muav, and Stanton's Caves; from the numerous packrat middens; and from a ringtail refuse deposit in Vulture Cave. The desert tortoise, 8 species of lizards, 12 species of snakes, 68 species of birds, and 33 species of mammals are identified. Extinct animals include the avian carrion feeder, Teratornis merriami, and the mammalian herbivores, Oreamnos harringtoni, Camelops cf. hesternus, Equus sp., and Nothrotheriops shastense. There is no apparent abrupt end to the late Pleistocene as observed in the Grand Canyon fossil faunal or floral record. Animal and plant taxa of the Grand Canyon responded individually to the changes in climate of the last 30,000 yr. Both animal and plant fossil assemblages indicate that a pre-full glacial, a full glacial, and a late glacial woodland community with many less dominant desert taxa were slowly replaced by a Holocene desert community. All woodland taxa were absent from the lower elevations of the Grand Canyon by 8500 yr B.P.

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