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Delayed recovery of non-marine tetrapods after the end-Permian mass extinction tracks global carbon cycle

Delayed recovery of non-marine tetrapods after the end-Permian mass extinction tracks global carbon cycle
Delayed recovery of non-marine tetrapods after the end-Permian mass extinction tracks global carbon cycle
During the end-Permian mass extinction, marine ecosystems suffered a major drop in diversity, which was maintained throughout the Early Triassic until delayed recovery during the Middle Triassic. This depressed diversity in the Early Triassic correlates with multiple major perturbations to the global carbon cycle, interpreted as either intrinsic ecosystem or external palaeoenvironmental effects. In contrast, the terrestrial record of extinction and recovery is less clear; the effects and magnitude of the end-Permian extinction on non-marine vertebrates are particularly controversial. We use specimen-level data from southern Africa and Russia to investigate the palaeodiversity dynamics of non-marine tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic boundary by analysing sample-standardized generic richness, evenness and relative abundance. In addition, we investigate the potential effects of sampling, geological and taxonomic biases on these data. Our analyses demonstrate that non-marine tetrapods were severely affected by the end-Permian mass extinction, and that these assemblages did not begin to recover until the Middle Triassic. These data are congruent with those from land plants and marine invertebrates. Furthermore, they are consistent with the idea that unstable low-diversity post-extinction ecosystems were subject to boom–bust cycles, reflected in multiple Early Triassic perturbations of the carbon cycle.
richness, evenness, relative abundance, synapsida, archosauromorpha, chaotic carbon interval
1471-2954
1310-1318
Irmis, Randall B.
1490574b-4ad6-4896-a1d7-b66933a7e12e
Whiteside, Jessica H.
5d9ad7aa-eba3-4ad9-9f6f-81be71b6829b
Irmis, Randall B.
1490574b-4ad6-4896-a1d7-b66933a7e12e
Whiteside, Jessica H.
5d9ad7aa-eba3-4ad9-9f6f-81be71b6829b

Irmis, Randall B. and Whiteside, Jessica H. (2012) Delayed recovery of non-marine tetrapods after the end-Permian mass extinction tracks global carbon cycle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279 (1732), 1310-1318. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1895).

Record type: Article

Abstract

During the end-Permian mass extinction, marine ecosystems suffered a major drop in diversity, which was maintained throughout the Early Triassic until delayed recovery during the Middle Triassic. This depressed diversity in the Early Triassic correlates with multiple major perturbations to the global carbon cycle, interpreted as either intrinsic ecosystem or external palaeoenvironmental effects. In contrast, the terrestrial record of extinction and recovery is less clear; the effects and magnitude of the end-Permian extinction on non-marine vertebrates are particularly controversial. We use specimen-level data from southern Africa and Russia to investigate the palaeodiversity dynamics of non-marine tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic boundary by analysing sample-standardized generic richness, evenness and relative abundance. In addition, we investigate the potential effects of sampling, geological and taxonomic biases on these data. Our analyses demonstrate that non-marine tetrapods were severely affected by the end-Permian mass extinction, and that these assemblages did not begin to recover until the Middle Triassic. These data are congruent with those from land plants and marine invertebrates. Furthermore, they are consistent with the idea that unstable low-diversity post-extinction ecosystems were subject to boom–bust cycles, reflected in multiple Early Triassic perturbations of the carbon cycle.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 26 October 2011
Published date: 7 April 2012
Keywords: richness, evenness, relative abundance, synapsida, archosauromorpha, chaotic carbon interval
Organisations: Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354765
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354765
ISSN: 1471-2954
PURE UUID: 85c82a52-3c88-4afe-afc1-bfaf868f1738

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Date deposited: 19 Jul 2013 10:04
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 14:24

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Author: Randall B. Irmis

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