No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Floral response to rapid warming in the earliest Eocene and implications for concurrent faunal change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 April 2016
Abstract
During the first 10–20 Kyr of the Eocene temperatures warmed by 4–8°C in middle and high latitudes, then cooled again over the succeeding ∼200 Kyr. Major changes in the composition of marine and terrestrial faunas, including one of the largest mammalian turnover events of the Cenozoic, occurred during this temperature excursion. To better understand the effects of rapid climatic change on continental biotas, we studied 60 fossil pollen samples collected from 900 m of section spanning approximately three million years of the late Paleocene and early Eocene; the samples come from the Fort Union Formation and Willwood Formation in the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming, paleolatitude approximately 47°N. There are 40 samples from the 500 m of rock deposited during the one million year interval centered on the Paleocene/Eocene boundary, although pollen was not preserved well in rocks representing the short warm interval at the base of the Eocene.
Overall, the palynoflora shows moderate change in composition and diversity. Two pollen taxa clearly expanded their ranges to include North America in the first 400 Kyr of the Eocene, Platycarya (Juglandaceae), and Intratriporopollenites instructus (cf. Tilia), but they account for less than 5% of pollen grains in the early Eocene. There are no last appearances of common taxa associated with the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The most noticeable palynological changes are the decrease in abundance of Caryapollenites spp. and Polyatriopollenites vermontensis (Juglandaceae), and the increase in abundance of Taxodiaceae (bald cypress family), Ulmaceae (elm family), and Betulaceae (birch family), particularly Alnipollenites spp. (alder). There are 22% more species in the Eocene samples than in the Paleocene samples; mean richness of Eocene samples is 17% higher than the mean of Paleocene samples. The mean evenness of Eocene samples is higher than that of Paleocene samples, but the difference is not significant.
The modest level of floral change during the late Paleocene and early Eocene contrasts with the major taxonomic turnover and ecological rearrangement of North American mammalian faunas observed at the same time. Faunal change probably resulted from intercontinental range expansion across Arctic land bridges that became habitable as a result of high-latitude warming, so it is surprising that climatically sensitive plants did not also experience a major episode of interchange. The absence of fossil plants from the temperature excursion interval itself could prevent us from recognizing a transient shift in floral composition, but it is clear that the flora did not undergo a major and permanent restructuring like that seen in the mammals. The contrast between the moderate floral response to warming and the strong faunal response is consistent with the idea that interactions between immigrant and native taxa, rather than climate directly, were the primary cause of terrestrial biotic change across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Paleontological Society
References
Literature Cited
Alroy, J. 1998. Equilibrial diversity dynamics in North American mammals. Pp. 232–287in McKinney, M. L. and Drake, J., eds. Biodiversity dynamics: turnover of populations, taxa and communities. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Alroy, J., Koch, P. L., and Zachos, J. C. 2000. Global climate change and North American mammalian evolution. In Erwin, D. H. and Wing, S. L., eds. Deep time: Paleobiology's perspective. Paleobiology 26(Suppl. to No. 4):259–288.Google Scholar
Arens, N. C., and Barracaldo, P. S. 1998. Distribution of tree ferns (Cyathaeceae) across the successional mosaic in an Andean cloud forest, Nariño, Colombia. American Fern Journal 88:60–71.Google Scholar
Bains, S., Corfield, R. M., and Norris, R. D. 1999. Mechanisms of climate warming at the end of the Paleocene. Science 285:724–727.Google Scholar
Bao, H., Koch, P. L., and Rumble, D. 1999. Paleocene-Eocene climatic variation in western North America: evidence from the δ18O of pedogenic hematite. Geological Society of America Bulletin 111:1405–1415.Google Scholar
Bawa, K. S., Bullock, S. H., Perry, D. R., Coville, R. E., and Grayum, M. H. 1985. Reproductive biology of tropical lowland rain forest trees. II. Pollination systems. American Journal of Botany 72:346–356.Google Scholar
Beard, K. C., 1997. East of Eden: Asia as an important center of taxonomic origination in mammalian evolution. In Beard, K. C. and Dawson, M. R., eds. Dawn of the age of mammals in Asia. Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 34:5–39.Google Scholar
Bebout, J. 1977. Palynology of the Paleocene-Eocene Golden Valley Formation of western North Dakota. Ph.D. dissertation. Pennsylvania State University, State College.Google Scholar
Beerling, D. J., and Jolley, D. W. 1998. Fossil plants record an atmospheric 12CO2 and temperature spike across the Palaeocene-Eocene transition in NW Europe. Journal of the Geological Society, London 155:591–594.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K., Hook, R. W., Badgley, C. E., Boy, J. A., Chapman, R. E., Dodson, P., Gastaldo, R. A., Graham, R. W., Martin, L. D., Olsen, P. E., Spicer, R. A., Taggart, R. E., and Wilson, M. V. H. 1992. Paleoenvironmental contexts and taphonomic modes. Pp. 139–180in Behrensmeyer, A. K., Damuth, J. D., DiMichele, W. A., Potts, R., Sues, H. D., and Wing, S. L., eds. Terrestrial ecosystems through time: evolutionary paleoecology of terrestrial plants and animals. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A. K., Todd, N. E., Potts, R., and McBrinn, G. E. 1997. Late Pliocene faunal turnover in the Turkana Basin, Kenya and Ethiopia. Science 278:1589–1594.Google Scholar
Berggren, W., Aubry, M. P., and Lucas, S., eds. 1998. Late Paleocene–early Eocene biotic and climatic events. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bown, T. M. 1982. Geology, paleontology, and correlation of Eocene volcaniclastic rocks, southeast Absaroka Range, Hot Springs County, Wyoming. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1201-A:1–75.1Google Scholar
Bown, T. M., and Kraus, M. J. 1981. Lower Eocene alluvial paleosols (Willwood Formation, northwestern Wyoming, USA) and their significance for paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and basin analysis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 34:1–30.Google Scholar
Bown, T. M., Holroyd, P. A., and Rose, K. D. 1994. Mammal extinctions, body size, and paleotemperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 91:10403–10406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, R. W. 1962. Paleocene flora of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 375:1–119.Google Scholar
Bujak, J. P., and Brinkhuis, H. 1998. Global warming and dinocyst changes across the Paleocene/Eocene epoch boundary. Pp. 277–295in Berggren, et al. 1998.Google Scholar
Burnham, R. J., and Graham, A. 1999. The history of Neotropical vegetation: new developments and status. Pp. 546–589in Crane, and Herendeen, 1999.Google Scholar
Clark, J. S., Fastie, C., Hurtt, G., Jackson, S. T., Johnson, C., King, G. A., Lewis, M., Lynch, J., Pacala, S., Prentice, C., Schupp, E. W., Webb, T. III, and Wyckoff, P. 1998. Reid's paradox of rapid plant migration. Bioscience 48:13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clyde, W. C., and Gingerich, P. D. 1998. Mammalian community response to the latest Paleocene thermal maximum: an isotaphonomic study in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Geology 26:1011–1014.Google Scholar
Colwell, R. K. 1999. EstimateS, Version 5.01—statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates.Google Scholar
Colwell, R. K., and Coddington, J. A. 1994. Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 345:101–118.Google Scholar
Crane, P. R. 1986. Form and function in wind dispersed pollen. Pp. 179–202in Blackmore, S. and Ferguson, I. R., eds. Pollen and spores: form and function. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Crane, P. R., and Herendeen, P. S., eds. 1999. The origin of modern terrestrial ecosystems. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86.Google Scholar
Davies-Vollum, S. K., and Wing, S. L. 1998. Sedimentological, taphonomic, and climatic aspects of Eocene swamp deposits (Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming). Palaios 13:28–40.Google Scholar
Davis, M. B. 1981. Quaternary history and the stability of forest communities. Pp. 132–153in West, D. C., Shugart, H. H., and Botkin, D. B., eds. Forest succession: concepts and application. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Delcourt, P. A., and Delcourt, H. R. 1987. Long-term forest dynamics of the temperate zone. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Dickens, G. R., Castillo, M. M., and Walker, J. C. G. 1997. A blast of gas in the latest Paleocene: simulating first-order effects of massive dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate. Geology 25:259–262.Google Scholar
Divakaran, O., Arunachalam, M., and Balakrishnan, N. N. 1980. Growth rates of Salvinia molesta Mitchell with special reference to salinity. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences 89:161–168.Google Scholar
Doerenkamp, A., Jardiné, S., and Moreau, P. 1976. Cretaceous and Tertiary palynomorph assemblages from Banks Island and adjacent areas (N.W.T.). Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology 24:372–418.Google Scholar
Farley, M. B. 1989. Palynological facies fossils in nonmarine environments in the Paleogene of the Bighorn Basin. Palaios 4:565–573.Google Scholar
Farley, M. B. 1990. Vegetation distribution across the Early Eocene depositional landscape from palynological analysis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 79:11–27.Google Scholar
Frederiksen, N. O. 1998. Upper Paleocene and lowermost Eocene angiosperm pollen biostratigraphy of the eastern Gulf Coast and Virginia. Micropaleontology 44:45–68.Google Scholar
Fricke, H. C., Clyde, W. C., O'Neil, J. R., and Gingerich, P. D. 1998. Evidence for rapid climate change in North America during the late Paleocene thermal maximum: oxygen isotope composition of biogenic phosphate from the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 160:193–208.Google Scholar
Gingerich, P. D. 1989. New earliest Wasatchian mammalian fauna from the Eocene of northwestern Wyoming: composition and diversity in a rarely sampled high-floodplain assemblage. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 28:1–97.Google Scholar
Gruas-Cavagnetto, C. 1978. Étude palynologique de L'Éocène du bassin Anglo-Parisien. Mémoire de la Société Géologique de France 131:1–60.Google Scholar
Gunnell, G. F. 1998. Mammalian faunal composition and the Paleocene/Eocene epoch/series boundary: evidence from the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Pp. 409–427in Berggren, et al. 1998.Google Scholar
Harrington, G. J. 1999. North American palynofloral dynamics in the late Paleocene to early Eocene. Ph.D. thesis. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England.Google Scholar
Henderson, I. G., and Harper, D. M. 1992. Bird distribution and habitat structure on Lake Naivasha, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology 30:223–232.Google Scholar
Hickey, L. J. 1977. Stratigraphy and paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (early Tertiary) of western North Dakota. Geological Society of America Memoir 150:1–181.Google Scholar
Hickey, L. J. 1980. Paleocene stratigraphy and flora of the Clark's Fork Basin. In Gingerich, P. D., ed., Early Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 24:33–49.Google Scholar
Hickey, L. J., West, R. M., Dawson, M. R., and Choi, D. K. 1983. Arctic terrestrial biota: paleomagnetic evidence of age disparity with mid-northern latitudes during the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary. Science 221:1153–1156.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1973. Reciprocal averaging: an eigenvector method of ordination. Journal of Ecology 61:237–249.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1979. DECORANA, a FORTRAN program for detrended correspondence analysis and reciprocal averaging. Microcomputer Power, Ithaca, N.Y.Google Scholar
Hooghiemstra, H. 1989. Quaternary and upper Pliocene glaciations and forest development in the tropical Andes: evidence from a long high-resolution pollen record from the sedimentary basin of Bogotá, Colombia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 72:11–26.Google Scholar
Hooker, J. J. 1998. Mammalian faunal change across the Paleocene-Eocene transition in Europe. Pp. 428–450in Berggren, et al. 1998.Google Scholar
Janis, C. M. 1993. Tertiary mammal evolution in the context of changing climates, vegetation, and tectonic events. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 24:467–500.Google Scholar
Jolley, D. W. 1998. Palynostratigraphy and depositional history of the Palaeocene Ormesby/Thanet depositional sequence set in southeastern England and its correlation with continental West Europe. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 99:265–315.Google Scholar
Katz, M. E., Pak, D. K., Dickens, G. R., and Miller, K. G. 1999. The source and fate of massive carbon input during the latest Paleocene thermal maximum. Science 286:1531–1533.Google Scholar
Kennett, J. P., and Stott, L. D. 1991. Abrupt deep-sea warming, palaeoceanographic changes and benthic extinctions at the end of the Palaeocene. Nature 353:225–229.Google Scholar
Koch, P. L., Zachos, J. C., and Gingerich, P. D. 1992. Correlation between isotope records in marine and continental carbon reservoirs near the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary. Nature 358:319–322.Google Scholar
Koch, P. L., Zachos, J. C., and Dettmann, D. L. 1995. Stable isotope stratigraphy and paleoclimatology of the Paleogene Bighorn Basin (Wyoming, U.S.A.). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 115:61–89.Google Scholar
Kovach, W. L. 1999. MVSP—a multivariate statistical package for Windows, Version 3.1. Kovach Computing Services, Petraeth, Wales.Google Scholar
Kraus, M. J. 1998. Development of potential acid sulfate paleosols in Paleocene floodplains, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 144:203–224.Google Scholar
Livingstone, D. R. 1971. A 22,000-year pollen record from the plateau of Zambia. Limnology and Oceanography 16:349–356.Google Scholar
Luterbacher, H., Hardenbol, J., and Schmitz, B. 2000. Comments by the bureau of ISPS on “The view of the chair of the P/E boundary working group.” International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy Newsletter 9:18–19.Google Scholar
Manchester, S. R. 1999. Biogeographical relationships of North American Tertiary floras. Pp. 472–522in Crane, and Herendeen, 1999.Google Scholar
Martin, A. R. H. 1976. Upper Palaeocene Salviniaceae from the Woolwich'Reading beds near Cobham, Kent. Palaeontology 19:173–184.Google Scholar
McAleece, N., Lambshead, P. J. D., Paterson, G. L., and Gage, J. G. 1997. Biodiversity Professional Beta One Version. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/zoology/bdpro.Google Scholar
McIver, E. E., and Basinger, J. F. 1999. Early Tertiary floral evolution in the Canadian high Arctic. Pp. 523–545in Crane, and Herendeen, 1999.Google Scholar
Mohr, B. A. R., and Lazarus, D. B. 1994. Paleobiogeographic distribution of Kuylisporites and its possible relationship to the extant fern genus Cnemidaria (Cyatheaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 81:758–767.Google Scholar
Nambudiri, E. M. V., and Chitaley, S. 1991. Fossil Salvinia and Azolla from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 69:325–336.Google Scholar
Nauman, C. E. 1993. Lygodiaceae C. Presl—climbing ferns. Pp. 114–116in Editorial Committee, eds.Flora of North America north of Mexico, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Neubert, M. G., and Caswell, H. 2000. Demography and dispersal: calculation and sensitivity analysis of invasion speed for structured populations. Ecology 81:1613–1628.Google Scholar
Norris, R. D., and Röhl, U. 1999. Carbon cycling and chronology of climate warming during the Palaeocene'Eocene transition. Nature 401:775–778.Google Scholar
Pemberton, R. W., and Ferriter, A. P. 1998. Old World climbing fern (Lygodium microphyllum), a dangerous invasive weed in Florida. American Fern Journal 88:165–175.Google Scholar
Peters, R. B., and Sloan, L. C. 2000. High concentrations of greenhouse gases and polar stratospheric clouds: a possible solution to high-latitude faunal migration at the latest Paleocene thermal maximum. Geology 28:979–982.Google Scholar
Pocknall, D. 1987. Palynomorph biozones for the Fort Union and Wasatch Formations (upper Paleocene-lower Eocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, U.S.A. Palynology 11:23–35.Google Scholar
Read, J. and Francis, J. E. 1992. Responses of some Southern Hemisphere tree species to a prolonged dark period and their phytogeographic and palaeoecological implications for high-latitude Cretaceous and Tertiary floras. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 99:271–290.Google Scholar
Rejmanek, M., and Richardson, D. M. 1996. What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology 77:1655–1661.Google Scholar
Richardson, D. M., and Bond, W. J. 1991. Determinants of plant distribution: evidence from pine invasions. American Naturalist 137:639–668.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J. C. 1995. Current trends in studies of long-term plant community dynamics. New Phytologist 130:469–494.Google Scholar
Röhl, U., Bralower, T. J., Norris, R. D., and Wefer, G. 2000. New chronology for the late Paleocene thermal maximum and its environmental implications. Geology 28:927–930.Google Scholar
Room, P. M. 1983. Falling apart as a lifestyle—the rhizome architecture and population growth of Salvinia molesta. Journal of Ecology 17:349–365.Google Scholar
Rose, K. D. 1981. The Clarkforkian Land-Mammal Age and mammalian faunal composition across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 26:1–197.Google Scholar
Rozefeld, A. C., Christophel, D. C., and Alley, N. F. 1992. Tertiary occurrence of the fern Lygodium (Schizaeaceae) in Australia and New Zealand. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 32:203–222.Google Scholar
Schankler, D. M. 1980. Faunal zonation of the Willwood Formation in the central Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. In Gingerich, P. D., ed. Early Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 24:99–114.Google Scholar
Schmitz, B. 2000. Is the CIE in the late Paleocene or early Eocene? International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy Newsletter 9:19.Google Scholar
Schumacker-Lambry, J. 1978. Palynologie du Landenien inférieur (Paléocène) à Gelinden-Overbroek/Belgique: relations entre les microfossiles et le sédiment. Laboratoire de Paléobotanique et de Paléopalynologie, Université de Liège, Liège.Google Scholar
Stolze, R. G. 1976. Ferns and fern allies of Guatemala, Part I. Ophioglossaceae through Cyatheaceae. Fieldiana (Botany) 39:1–130.Google Scholar
Thompson, R. S., Anderson, K. H., and Bartlein, P. J. 1999. Atlas of relations between climatic parameters and distributions of important trees and shrubs in North America. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1650(A and B).Google Scholar
Tiffney, B. H. 1985a. Perspectives on the origin of the floristic similarity between eastern Asia and eastern North America. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 66:73–94.Google Scholar
Tiffney, B. H. 1985b. The Eocene North Atlantic land bridge: its importance in Tertiary and modern phytogeography of the Northern Hemisphere. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 66:243–273.Google Scholar
Tryon, R. M., and Tryon, A. F. 1982. Ferns and allied plants with special reference to tropical America. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Vrba, E. S. 1985. Environment and evolution—alternative causes of the temporal distribution of evolutionary events. South African Journal of Science 81:229–236.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1991. Ecogeography and the great American interchange. Paleobiology 17:266–280.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III. 1988. Eastern North America. In Huntley, B. and Webb, T. III, eds. Vegetation history. Handbook of Vegetation Science 7:385–414. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht.Google Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. 1969. Wind pollination in the angiosperms: evolutionary and environmental considerations. Evolution 23:28–35.Google Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. 1983. Wind pollination: some ecological and evolutionary perspectives. Pp. 97–108in Real, L., ed. Pollination biology. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Whiteman, J. B., and Room, P. M. 1991. Temperatures lethal to Salvinia molesta Mitchell. Aquatic Botany 40:27–36.Google Scholar
Wilf, P. 2000. Late Paleocene-early Eocene climate changes in southwestern Wyoming: paleobotanical analysis. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112:292–307.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L. 1984a. Relation of paleovegetation to geometry and cyclicity of some fluvial carbonaceous deposits. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 54:52–66.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L. 1984b. A new basis for recognizing the Paleocene/Eocene boundary in western interior North America. Science 226:439–441.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L. 1998. Late Paleocene–early Eocene floral and climatic change in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Pp. 380–400in Berggren, et al. 1998.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L., and Bown, T. M. 1985. Fine-scale reconstruction of late Paleocene-early Eocene paleogeography in the Bighorn Basin of northern Wyoming. Pp. 93–105in Flores, R. and Kaplan, S. S., eds. Cenozoic paleogeography of west-central United States. Rocky Mountain Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L., and Hickey, L. J. 1984. The Platycarya perplex and the evolution of the Juglandaceae. American Journal of Botany 71:388–411.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L., Bown, T. M., and Obradovich, J. D. 1991. Early Eocene biotic and climatic change in interior western North America. Geology 19:1189–1192.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L., Alroy, J., and Hickey, L. J. 1995. Plant and mammal diversity in the Paleocene to early Eocene of the Bighorn Basin. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 115:117–156.Google Scholar
Wing, S. L., Bao, H., and Koch, P. L. 2000. An early Eocene cool period? Evidence for continental cooling during the warmest part of the Cenozoic. Pp. 197–237in Huber, B. T., MacCleod, K., and Wing, S. L., eds. Warm climates in earth history. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wolfe, J. A. 1978. A paleobotanical interpretation of Tertiary climates in the Northern Hemisphere. American Scientist 66:694–703.Google Scholar
Zachos, J. C., Stott, L. D., and Lohmann, K. C. 1994. Evolution of early Cenozoic marine temperatures. Paleoceanography 9:353–387.Google Scholar