Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Perspectives

317 Pages·2001·11.324 MB·English

by  Patricia G. Gensel, Dianne Edwards

PLANTS INVADE THE
LAND:
Evolutionary and
Environmental Perspectives
Editors
PATRICIA G. GENSEL
DIANNE EDWARDS
Columbia University Press
PLANTS INVADE THE LAND
Critical Moments and Perspectives in Paleobiology and Earth History
Critical Moments and Perspectives in Paleobiology and Earth History Series
David J. Bottjer and Richard K. Bambach, Editors
J. David Archibald, Dinosaur Extinction and the End of an Era: What the Fossils Say
Thomas M. Cronin, Principles of Paleoclimatology
Betsey Dexter Dyer and Robert Alan Obar, Tracing the History of Eukaryotic Cells: The Enigmatic Smile
Douglas H. Erwin, The Great Paleozoic Crisis: Life and Death in the Permian
Anthony Hallam, Phanerozoic Sea-Level Changes
Ronald E. Martin, One Long Experiment: Scale and Process in Earth History
George R. McGhee, Jr., The Late Devonian Mass Extinction: The Frasnian/Famennian Crisis
George R. McGhee, Jr., Theoretical Morphology: The Concept and Its Application
Mark A. S. McMenamin and Dianna L. S. McMenamin, The Emergence of Animals: The Cambrian
Breakthrough
Judith Totman Parrish, Interpreting Pre-Quaternary Climate from the Geologic Record
Donald R Prothero,The Eocene-Oligocene Transition: Paradise Lost
PLANTS INVADE
THE LAND
Evolutionary and Environmental
Perspectives
Editors
PATRICIA G.GENSEL
DIANNE EDWARDS
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2001 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Plants invade the land : evolutionary and environmental perspectives / Patricia G. Gensel
and Dianne Edwards, editors.
p. cm. — (Critical moments and perspectives in paleobiology and earth history series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 0-231-11160-6 (cloth : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-231-11161-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Paleobotany. 2. Plants--Evolution. I. Gensel, Patricia G., 1944- II. Edwards, D.
(Dianne) III. International Organization of Paleobotany Conference (6th : 1996) IV.
Series
QE905 .P55 2000
561--dc21 00-057021
Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of Professor Winfried Remy, Paläontologisches Institüt, West-
fälisches-Welhelms Universität, Germany, a distinguished and stimulating paleo-
botanist who died in December, 1995. Professor Remy made numerous significant
contributions to our knowledge about Carboniferous and Permian plants during
his long career, and, more recently, to our knowledge of early land plants, based
mainly on careful studies of the permineralized Rhynie Chert remains. His docu-
mentation, prepared in collaboration with his wife Renate Remy and colleagues
Hagen Hass, Stepan Schultka, Hans Kerp, and Tom Taylor, of convincing gameto-
phytes; of the detailed anatomy of some early land vascular plants, including sev-
eral stages of their development; and of fungi and algae preserved in the Rhynie
Chert represent major advances in elucidating aspects of early terrestrial ecosys-
tems. He maintained a strong interest in the ecology of ancient plants, and the
material he published on these aspects was based largely on the Rhynie Chert stud-
ies. Thus, the theme of this book, interaction of early land plants with their envi-
ronment and other organisms in an evolutionary context, is especially appropriate
for commemorating Professor Remy and his contributions.
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Contributors ix
1 Introduction 1
Patricia G. Gensel
2 Embryophytes on Land: The Ordovician to Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) Record 3
Dianne Edwards and Charles Wellman
3 Rustling in the Undergrowth: Animals in Early Terrestrial Ecosystems 29
William A. Shear and Paul A. Selden
4 New Data on Nothia aphyllaLyon 1964 ex El-Saadawy et Lacey 1979, a Poorly
Known Plant from the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert 52
Hans Kerp, Hagen Hass, and Volker Mosbrugger
5 Morphology of Above- and Below-Ground Structures in Early Devonian
(Pragian–Emsian) Plants 83
Patricia G. Gensel, Michele E. Kotyk, and James F. Basinger
6 The Posongchong Floral Assemblages of Southeastern Yunnan, China—Diversity
and Disparity in Early Devonian Plant Assemblages 103
Hao Shou-Gang and Patricia G. Gensel
7 The Middle Devonian Flora Revisited 120
Christopher M. Berry and Muriel Fairon-Demaret
8 The Origin, Morphology, and Ecophysiology of Early Embryophytes: Neontological
and Paleontological Perspectives 140
Linda E. Graham and Jane Gray
9 Biological Roles for Phenolic Compounds in the Evolution of Early Land Plants 159
Gillian A. Cooper-Driver
10 The Effect of the Rise of Land Plants on Atmospheric CO During the Paleozoic 173
2
Robert A. Berner
11 Early Terrestrial Plant Environments: An Example from the Emsian of Gaspé, Canada 179
C. L. Hotton, F. M. Hueber, D. H. Griffing, and J. S. Bridge
vii
viii Contents
12 Effects of the Middle to Late Devonian Spread of Vascular Land Plants
on Weathering Regimes, Marine Biotas, and Global Climate 213
Thomas J. Algeo, Stephen E. Scheckler, and J. Barry Maynard
13 Diversification of Siluro-Devonian Plant Traces in Paleosols and Influence
on Estimates of Paleoatmospheric CO Levels 237
2
Steven G. Driese and Claudia I. Mora
References 255
Index 291
CONTRIBUTORS
(senior authors are indicated by an asterisk)
Thomas J. Algeo*. H.N. Fisk Laboratory of Sedimentology, Department of Geology, University of
Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0013
James F. Basinger. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N5E2
Robert Berner*. Department of Geology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520-8109
Christopher M. Berry*. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Wales, College at Cardiff,
Cardiff, CF1 3YE, United Kingdom
J. S. Bridge. Department of Geological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York
13902-6000
Gillian A. Cooper-Driver*. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
02215
Steven G. Driese*. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Ten-
nessee 37996
Dianne Edwards*. Department of Earth Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3YE, United
Kingdom
Muriel Fairon-Demaret. Services Associés de Paléontologie de l’Université de Liège, Place du
Vingt-Août 7, B-4000, Liège, Belgium
Patricia G. Gensel*.Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Car-
olina 27599-3280
Linda Graham*. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Jane Gray. Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97405
D. H. Griffing. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina 28223-0001
Shou-gang Hao*. Department of Geology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Hagen Hass. Abteilung Paläobotanik am Geologisch-Palaeontologisch Institut und Museum, Hin-
denburgplatz 57-59, D-48143, Münster, Germany
Carol L. Hotton*.Department of Paleobiology, NHB MRC 121, National Museum of Natural His-
tory, Washington, D.C. 20560
Francis M. Hueber.Department of Paleobiology, NHB MRC 121, National Museum of Natural His-
tory, Washington, D.C. 20560
Hans Kerp*. Abteilung Paläobotanik, Westfälisches-Wilhelms Universität, Hindenburgplatz 57-59,
D-48143, Münster, Germany
Michele E. Kotyk.Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280
J. Barry Maynard. H. N. Fisk Laboratory of Sedimentology, Department of Geology, University of
Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0013
ix