The Carboniferous floras of the Iberian Peninsula: A synthesis with geological connotations

Wagner, Robert H.; Álvarez-Vázquez, Carmen

doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2010.06.005

Cited by 107 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…2, 6B). The timing of this turnover varied slightly across Euramerica (Cleal et al 2009;Wagner and Á lvarez-Vá zquez 2010), but the results, in terms of dominance-diversity patterns, were the same everywhere. Many of the lineages, including some of the lycopsids, dominant in Middle Pennsylvanian assemblages, survived well into the Permian in Cathaysia (Hilton and Cleal 2007), representing a species pool from which dispersal back into Euramerica seemingly did not occur.…”

Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…These assemblages, however, lack elements typical of the seasonally dry flora, mainly conifers or known minor associates of the dominant elements. Similarly, Wagner and Á lvarez-Vá zquez (2010;and, by default, Bashforth et al 2010) note the paucity of conifers in Late Pennsylvanian Iberian Peninsula floras, despite the presence of abundant well-drained mountainous habitats, including high-elevation alluvial fans, in proximity to basinal environments. On a smaller scale, Feldman et al (2005) contrast several examples of Late Pennsylvanian valley fills from late interglacial to early glacial time periods.…”

Section: Dry Floras: Uplands Versus Climatementioning

confidence: 98%

“…56-57). Late Pennsylvanian conifers are more common components of floras from intermontane or limnic basins in central Europe (Kerp 1996) than they are from the broad, flat cratonic areas of the North American coal basins, particularly from the Midcontinent and Illinois Basin regions (Rothwell et al 1997); the relative rarity of conifers in both the Appalachian Basin and near-mountainous areas of the Iberian Peninsula, both close to active tectonism and associated elevated areas, is noteworthy (Blake et al 2002;Eble et al 2009;Wagner and Á lvarez-Vá zquez 2010;Bashforth et al 2010). Hernandez-Castillo et al (2003) reconstructed Late Pennsylvanian conifers as diminutive, 2 m tall, plagiotropically branched trees ( fig.…”

Section: Dryland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such restrictions certainly became more severe and the isolation of populations ever greater during the later Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) and early Late Pennsylvanian (Missourian), when much evidence indicates increasing aridity in the tropical realm (wets less wet, drys more dry), possibly tied to extensive melting of polar ice Rygel et al 2008). In the midst of this interval, there is a great turnover in the flora, accompanied by the loss of most of the dominant Middle Pennsylvanian lycopsids (Phillips et al 1974;Heckel 1991a), a change in the common tree ferns (Lesnikowska 1989), and many changes in the pteridosperm component of wetlands (Phillips 1981;Phillips and Peppers 1984;DiMichele et al 2006a;Wagner and Á lvarez-Vá zquez 2010). From a life-history viewpoint, perhaps the least likely to produce new species during these periods of habitat contraction and isolation were the arborescent lycopsids.…”

Section: Ecological and Evolutionary Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

DiMichele¹

2014

International Journal of Plant Sciences

161

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Premise of research. The Late Paleozoic Ice Age was the last extensive pre-Pleistocene ice age. It includes many climate changes of different intensities, permitting examination of many and varied biotic responses. The tropical Pennsylvanian Subperiod, usually visualized as one vast wetland coal forest, in fact also was dominated, periodically, by seasonally dry vegetation that, in turn, covered most of the central and western Pangean supercontinent. Equatorial wetland and dryland biomes oscillated during single glacial-interglacial cycles. This recognition changes understanding of the Coal Age tropics; examination of their spatiotemporal patterns indicates that these vegetation types responded differently to global environmental disturbances and long-term trends and points to potentially different underlying controls on evolutionary histories of their component lineages.Methodology. This study is based on the published literature and on examination of geological exposures and fossil floras, mainly from North America but also from other parts of the world.Pivotal results. Wetlands and seasonally dry habitats were equally part of the Coal Age Pangean tropics. They dominated these landscapes at different times, under different climatic regimes. Wetland vegetation was likely forced into refugia during seasonally dry (subhumid to semiarid) parts of glacial-interglacial cycles; it reemerged/reassembled during wet (humid to perhumid) periods. Seasonally dry vegetation resided permanently in areas of western and central Pangea and in microhabitats within the Central Pangean Mountains. Both floras had lower biodiversity than modern floras in similar habitats. The wetland flora species pool was more phylogenetically disparate than any modern vegetation. In contrast, seasonally dry floras were dominated by seed plants. These biomes responded differently to acute environmental changes and chronic long-term aridification.Conclusions. From ecological or evolutionary perspectives, the present-day world is but one possibility. Lower-diversity worlds such as the late Paleozoic, with a rich spectrum of environmental variations, offer insights into relationships between organisms and environments that expand understanding of these phenomena and enlarge our sense of what is possible or probable as we look to the future.

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Section: Wetland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Dry Floras: Uplands Versus Climatementioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Dryland Floral Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ecological and Evolutionary Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

DiMichele¹

2014

International Journal of Plant Sciences

161

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“…The type material is from the Radnice Member, Kladno Formation in Bohemia, of Bolsovian age. According to Wagner and Álvarez-Vázquez (2010), this species ranges from Langsettian to Cantabrian in the Iberian Peninsula, a longer range than is commonly accepted.…”

Section: Thomas Attributed the Latter Materials To Lepidophloios Acadimentioning

confidence: 99%

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

Álvarez-Vázquez

Wagner²

2014

atgeol

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A taxonomic revision of lycopsids is presented as part of a reassesment of lower to middle Westphalian adpression floras from the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Being elements of the swamp flora their record reflects sedimentary bias. Systematic collecting from the “Fern Ledges” at Saint John (New Brunswick) has yielded only a few lycopsid remains as a result of the allochthonous facies. Most records (mainly by W.A. Bell in the twentieth century) correspond to sporadic collecting by Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) personnel. Their specimens are kept in GSC Ottawa. Additional remains are in museums at Montréal (Quebec), Joggins (Nova Scotia) and Saint John (New Brunswick). We introduce a new species (Lepidodendron bellii), and reinstate another (Diaphorodendron decurtatum) described by Dawson in the 19th century. Altogether, 26 taxa are described, including stem and branch remains as well as roots, leaves, strobili and sporophylls. Three specimens are illustrated from localities outside Canada so as to clarify specific characters. A copy of Lindley and Hutton’s illustration of the type of Lepidodendron dilatatum (here recorded as Bergeria dilatata) is figured in the context of a redefinition of the genus Bergeria for stem remains with false leaf scars. Problems surrounding the morphological interpretation of arborescent lycopsids of Pennsylvanian age are discussed, and the stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution are recorded for the different taxa. The identity of the Pennsylvanian flora of the Canadian Maritimes with that of the British Isles and western Europe in general is emphasized by the synonymies discussed. Paleogeographic proximity and a similar paleolatitude justify the identity of floras.

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A new Late Pennsylvanian floral assemblage from the Douro Basin, Portugal

et al. 2017

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The Douro Basin (lower Gzhelian/lower Stephanian C, Upper Pennsylvanian; NW Portugal) is one of the richest continental sedimentary basins in fossil floras of late Carboniferous age in Portugal. Recent field work carried out in the Douro Basin allowed to report a new fossil site, of potential Lagerstätte quality, found in the Montes da Costa (Ermesinde) region. This new fossil locality preserves exceptional palaeontological, stratigraphic, lithological, and tectonic structural features of great scientific interest. An exceptional record of sudden catastrophic flooding events represents one of the most remarkable geological records documented in this new locality. In the palaeontological context, the plant assemblage described comprises a well‐preserved and very diversified macroflora of early Gzhelian age, consisting of several fossil taxa belonging mainly to genera and species of Pteridopsida, Pteridospermopsida, and Sphenopsida. Its fossil records are essentially parautochthonous deposits, but several Calamites trunks preserved in autochthonous position were documented. Within the studied plant assemblage, a new species of arborescent marattialean fern, Acitheca murphyi sp. nov., is described, and several new floral occurrences are first reported in the Portuguese Carboniferous. Here, we analyse the palaeoecological, palaeoenvironmental, and palaeoclimatic conditions of the new palaeobotanical data. Additionally, there was undertaken an extensive comparative study of Gzhelian (Stephanian C–early Autunian) age macrofloras from different localities of Europe and North America. Together with these results, a significant macrofloral biostratigraphic gap for the Kasimovian stage in the Appalachian region (West Virginia, USA) is demonstrated to be correlated to the Late Pennsylvanian of Portugal, and its palaeogeographic significance is assessed.

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The Carboniferous floras of the Iberian Peninsula: A synthesis with geological connotations

Cited by 107 publications

References 37 publications

Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

Wetland-Dryland Vegetational Dynamics in the Pennsylvanian Ice Age Tropics

Lycopsida from the lower Westphalian (Middle Pennsylvanian) of the Maritime Provinces, Canada

A new Late Pennsylvanian floral assemblage from the Douro Basin, Portugal

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