E-grāmata: Effects of Past Global Change on Life

What can we expect as global change progresses? Will there be thresholds that trigger sudden shifts in environmental conditionsor that cause catastrophic destruction of life?



Effects of Past Global Change on Life explores what earth scientists are learning about the impact of large-scale environmental changes on ancient lifeand how these findings may help us resolve today's environmental controversies.



Leading authorities discuss historical climate trends and what can be learned from the mass extinctions and other critical periods about the rise and fall of plant and animal species in response to global change. The volume develops a picture of how environmental change has closed some evolutionary doors while opening othersincluding profound effects on the early members of the human family.



An expert panel offers specific recommendations on expanding research and improving investigative toolsand targets historical periods and geological and biological patterns with the most promise of shedding light on future developments.



This readable and informative book will be of special interest to professionals in the earth sciences and the environmental community as well as concerned policymakers.

Table of Contents



Front Matter OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION METHODS Periodic Cycles The Eocene-Oligocene Transition The Terminal Ordovician Transition RATES OF TRANSITION The Nature of Thresholds PATTERNS OF BIOTIC RESPONSE Extinction Evolutionary Turnover Delayed Recovery RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES Background INTRODUCTION Geochemical Evidence for Atmospheric Change Paleontological Evidence for Evolutionary Innovation Biological Reasons for Linkage Paleontological Data Geochemical Data CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES ABSTRACT THE TIME FRAME THE PALEOGEOGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF DEEP OCEAN VENTILATION Shelly Faunas ENVIRONMENTAL-ORGANISMAL CHANGES: A SUMMARY REFERENCES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION HIGH-RESOLUTION APPROACH TO DOCUMENTING ANCIENT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE THE CENOMANIAN-TURONIAN (C-T) MASS EXTINCTION - AN ANCIENT GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY CRISIS IN A CHAOTIC GREENHOUSE WORLD A CASE HISTORY: THE PUEBLO, COLORADO, C-T BOUNDARY SECTION ESTABLISHING A CHRONOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECLINE AND MASS EXTINCTION ACROSS THE C-T BOUNDARY INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES Late Cenomanian Background Conditions Late Cenomanian Mass Extinction End Of Sampling Interval ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION HOW COMPLETE ARE K/T BOUNDARY SECTIONS? Planktic Foraminifera Calcareous Nannoplankton El Kef, Tunisia Caravaca, Spain Brazos, Texas ODP Site 738C, Indian Antarctic Ocean Calcareous Nannoplankton ARE SPECIFIC HABITATS SELECTIVELY DESTROYED? DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY REFERENCES INTRODUCTION TERMINAL PALEOCENE MASS EXTINCTION IN THE DEEP SEA ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MASS EXTINCTION AND OCEANIC WARMING CAUSE OF MASS EXTINCTION IN DEEP SEA CAUSE OF OCEANOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS AND SUMMARY REFERENCES INTRODUCTION OXYGEN ISOTOPIC RECORDS OF LOW LATITUDE TEMPERATURES ARGUMENTS FOR TROPICAL TEMPERATURE STABILITY MODEL-DERIVED TROPICAL TEMPERATURES SUMMARY OF TROPICAL CLIMATE EXTREMES CLIMATE TOLERANCES OF TROPICAL ORGANISMS A MID-CRETACEOUS CASE STUDY REFERENCES ABSTRACT The Pliocene Prior to 2.5 Ma Onset of the Ice Age at 2.5 to 2.4 Ma Africa Europe Marine Biotas Plateau Uplift Ice-Sheet Forcing of Climatic Change SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Peat Swamps Clastic Wetlands Resolution at 100- to 104-yr Time Scales: Habitats and Species Assemblages Resolution at the 105- to 107-yr Time Scale: Interseam Patterns Coal-Swamp Species and Ecomorphs Changes at the Landscape Level Changes in the Habitat Composition of Landscapes Changes in the Species-Level Composition of Habitats Evidence for Climatic Variability Relationships of Climatic Patterns to Vegetational Patterns SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS Hierarchical Organization Long-Term Species Replacement Dynamics: Evolutionary Implications REFERENCES INTRODUCTION Albian-Cenomanian and Arrival of Angiosperms Turonian-Coniacian-Santonian Albian-Cenomanian and Early Angiosperms Turonian-Coniacian-Santonian Eocene Eocene Northern and Southern Floras: Deciduous Versus Evergreen Cenozoic Vegetational Changes REFERENCES UNIQUENESS OF THE AUSTRALIAN SYSTEM MODERN VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA MAJOR TERTIARY CLIMATIC CHANGES PLANT MEGAFOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR CLIMATIC CHANGE REFERENCES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Chronofaunas and Turnover Pulses Importance of Immigrants Paleocene Chronofauna: Tropical Forest White River Chronofauna: Woodland Savanna Sheep Creek Chronofauna: Park Savanna Clarendonian Chronofauna: Grassland Savanna Late Pliocene and Pleistocene: Further Continentality and Provincialism RESULTS DISCUSSION European Land Mammal Record Indian Land Mammal Record Oxygen Isotopes and Mammal Immigrations CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Ecology of Modern Planktonic Foraminifera RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Stable Isotopic Records Faunal Response to Temperature and Salinity Changes in the Gulf of Mexico CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES INTRODUCTION SENSITIVITY OF POLLEN DATA TO VEGETATION PATTERNS MAPS OF CHANGING TAXON DISTRIBUTION THROUGH TIME IMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIES AND EVOLUTION TIME AND SPACE SCALES OF VEGETATIONAL AND TAXONOMIC UNITS REFERENCES ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT IN APES, HUMANS, AND AUSTRALOPITHECINES Arboreal Traits The Arboreal Imperative CLIMATIC FORCING REFERENCES Index