Rise to dominance of angiosperm pioneers in European Cretaceous environments

Coiffard, Clément; Gómez, Bernard; Daviero‐Gomez, Véronique; Dilcher, David L.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1218633110

Cited by 87 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…However, recent studies have shown that extrinsic influences combined with biotic factors may drive species diversity at the multimillion-year time scale (6,12), reviving the potential role of global climate change (13,14) on angiosperm radiation. Such a combination is supported by fossil data, as illustrated by the latest studies based on the European megafossil plant record that provided a scenario in which angiosperm radiation was concomitant, in space and time, with the evolution of the physical environment (15).…”

mentioning

confidence: 73%

“…1C). This may involve the scenario inferred by Coiffard et al (15), with a migration in most of the continental surfaces in three phases, being globally relevant and not restricted to Europe. We favor an abiotic first-order context allowing angiosperm radiation by a global climate change driven by both a breakup of Pangea in Gondwana and Laurasia and the drift of the smaller land masses.…”

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…130 Ma) to the Campanian (ca. 84 Ma) shows that this increase in diversity happened in a sequential scenario involving migration and radiation of angiosperms into new environments (15). During the Aptian (120 Ma), a nonnegligible part of the global angiosperm fossil record is composed of pollen grains found close to the equator according to the prevailing angiosperm fossils sites (i.e., Gabon, Congo, Tunisia, Egypt, and Brazil in the Gondwana continent) published by Friis et al (2).…”

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…According to recent studies they were essentially limited to small shrubby, herbaceous, or aquatic forms (1,15). Within a few tens of millions of years, their diversity strongly increased, as they represent 40% of the macrofossil flora from the latest Cretaceous (27).…”

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We favor an abiotic first-order context allowing angiosperm radiation by a global climate change driven by both a breakup of Pangea in Gondwana and Laurasia and the drift of the smaller land masses. It is in this new Cretaceous global context that novel functional traits, such as biological innovation with interaction with pollinating insects (7), ecological adaptation (15), morphological novelties with the symmetry of the flower (8), and ecophysiological innovations with evolution of densely veined leaves (10,35), have combined and collectively explain the evolutionary success of the angiosperms. Still, none of the local or global scale is exclusive, and both act in a pluralistic way because these biotic interactions may have driven a local-scale success of several radiations.…”

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tectonic-driven climate change and the diversification of angiosperms

Chaboureau

Sepulchre

Donnadieu

et al. 2014

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

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In 1879, Charles Darwin characterized the sudden and unexplained rise of angiosperms during the Cretaceous as an "abominable mystery." The diversification of this clade marked the beginning of a rapid transition among Mesozoic ecosystems and floras formerly dominated by ferns, conifers, and cycads. Although the role of environmental factors has been suggested [Coiffard C, Gómez B (2012) Geol Acta 10(2):181-188], Cretaceous global climate change has barely been considered as a contributor to angiosperm radiation, and focus was put on biotic factors to explain this transition. Here we use a fully coupled climate model driven by Mesozoic paleogeographic maps to quantify and discuss the impact of continental drift on angiosperm expansion and diversification. We show that the decrease of desertic belts between the Triassic and the Cretaceous and the subsequent onset of long-lasting humid conditions during the Late Cretaceous were driven by the breakup of Pangea and were contemporaneous with the first rise of angiosperm diversification. Positioning angiosperm-bearing fossil sites on our paleobioclimatic maps shows a strong match between the location of fossilrich outcrops and temperate humid zones, indicating that climate change from arid to temperate dominance may have set the stage for the ecological expansion of flowering plants.climate modeling | paleogeography A ngiosperms have gradually dominated terrestrial environments after their appearance during the Early Cretaceous (1, 2). Their radiation was characterized by high and rapid diversification (3, 4), high rates of speciation throughout the Cretaceous (5), and unprecedented ecological dominance. Most hypotheses to explain angiosperm radiation invoke biotic (instrinsic) factors, such as pollinating insects (6), coevolution with herbivorous insects (7), morphological novelties (8), or ecophysiological innovations (9-11) as well as macroevolutionary patterns (1). However, recent studies have shown that extrinsic influences combined with biotic factors may drive species diversity at the multimillion-year time scale (6, 12), reviving the potential role of global climate change (13, 14) on angiosperm radiation. Such a combination is supported by fossil data, as illustrated by the latest studies based on the European megafossil plant record that provided a scenario in which angiosperm radiation was concomitant, in space and time, with the evolution of the physical environment (15).Although the Cretaceous climate is described as warm and equable, onset of such climatic conditions is gradual (16) and results from long-term processes that occurred throughout the Mesozoic. Climate simulations were conducted using a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (FOAM) for five continental configurations, from the Middle Triassic [225 million years ago (Ma)] to the Late Cretaceous (70 Ma). The coupling of the Lund-Potsdam-Jena dynamic global vegetation model (LPJ) within FOAM experiments helped to account for vegetation feedbacks on the climate system and to bui...

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mentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Climate and Angiosperm Expansion And Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tectonic-driven climate change and the diversification of angiosperms

Chaboureau

Sepulchre

Donnadieu

et al. 2014

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

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Where did they come from, where did they go? Niche conservatism in woody and herbaceous plants and implications for plant‐based paleoclimatic reconstructions

Quirk,

Smith,

Paul Acosta

et al. 2024

American J of Botany

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PremiseThe ecological conditions that constrain plants to an environmental niche are assumed to be constant through time. While the fossil record has been used previously to test for niche conservatism of woody flowering plants, additional studies are needed in other plant groups especially since they can provide insight with paleoclimatic reconstructions, high biodiversity in modern terrestrial ecosystems, and significant contributions to agriculture.MethodsWe tested climatic niche conservatism across time by characterizing the climatic niches of living herbaceous ginger plants (Zingiberaceae) and woody dawn redwood (Metasequoia) against paleoniches reconstructed based on fossil distribution data and paleoclimatic models.ResultsDespite few fossil Zingiberaceae occurrences in the latitudinal tropics, unlike living Zingiberaceae, extinct Zingiberaceae likely experienced paratropical conditions in the higher latitudes, especially in the Cretaceous and Paleogene. The living and fossil distributions of Metasequoia largely remain in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere. The Zingiberaceae shifted from an initial subtropical climatic paleoniche in the Cretaceous, toward a temperate regime in the late Cenozoic; Metasequoia occupied a more consistent climatic niche over the same time intervals.ConclusionsBecause of the inconsistent climatic niches of Zingiberaceae over geologic time, we are less confident of using them for taxonomic‐based paleoclimatic reconstruction methods like nearest living relative, which assume a consistent climatic niche between extant and extinct relatives; we argue that the consistent climatic niche of Metasequoia is more appropriate for these reconstructions. Niche conservatism cannot be assumed between extant and extinct plants and should be tested further in groups used for paleoclimatic reconstructions.

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