Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time

Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals

By: Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, Richard Potts

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Paperback | 15 August 1992 | Edition Number 1

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588 Pages

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23.11 x 16.45 x 3.47

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Breathtaking in scope, this is the first survey of the entire
ecological history of life on land--from the earliest traces
of terrestrial organisms over 400 million years ago to the
beginning of human agriculture. By providing myriad insights
into the unique ecological information contained in the
fossil record, it establishes a new and ambitious basis for
the study of evolutionary paleoecology of land ecosystems.

A joint undertaking of the Evolution of Terrestrial
Ecosystems Consortium at the National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, and twenty-six additional
researchers, this book begins with four chapters that lay out
the theoretical background and methodology of the science of
evolutionary paleoecology. Included are a comprehensive
review of the taphonomy and paleoenvironmental settings of
fossil deposits as well as guidelines for developing
ecological characterizations of extinct organisms and the
communities in which they lived. The remaining three
chapters treat the history of terrestrial ecosystems through
geological time, emphasizing how ecological interactions have
changed, the rate and tempo of ecosystem change, the role of
exogenous "forcing factors" in generating ecological change,
and the effect of ecological factors on the evolution of
biological diversity.

The six principal authors of this volume are all associated
with the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems program at the
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

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Non-Fiction Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning Earth Sciences Palaeontology The Environment Applied Ecology Miscellaneous Items Archaeology

List of Tables and Figures
Preface
List of Conference Participants
Evolutionary Paleoecology
Introduction
The Methods of Evolutionary Paleoecology
Taphonomy
Ecological Characterization of Extinct Species
Ecological Characterization of Past Communities: Synchronic Features
Ecological Characterization of Past Communities: Diachronic Features
Conclusion References
Paleoenvironmental Contexts and Taphonomic Modes
Introduction
Coastal Environments
Offshore
Beaches
Lagoons and Other Back-Barrier Settings
Estuaries
Fluvial and Deltaic Environments
Channels: Basal Lags and Bars
Abandoned Channel Fills
Levees
Floodplains
Crevasse Splays
Interdistributary Bays
Lacustrine Environments
Oxygen-Depleted Large Lakes
Oxygen-Depleted Small, Deep Lakes
Oxygen-Depleted Small, Shallow Lakes
Oxygenatednbsp; Large Lakes
Oxygenated Small Lakes
Volcanigenic Environments
Explosive Events
Primary Airfall
Lacustrine Volcaniclastics
Eolian Environments
Dunes and Interdunes
Loess
Other Contexts for Organic Preservation
Traps
Burrows
Feces and Regurgitates
Middens
Archeological Accumulations
Springs
Peat-Forming Environments
Charcoal Deposits
Mud Slides and Flash Floods
Time and Space Resolution in the Fossil Record
Time Resolution and Completeness
Methods for Assessing Time Resolution
Spatial Resolution
Resolution in the Taphonomic Modes
Change through Time in the Taphonomic Modes
Effects of Area
Consequence of Environmental Change
Changes in Taphonomic Processes
Conclusion References
Ecological Characteristics of Fossil Plants
Introduction
Autecology of Extinct Plants
Inferring Autecology from Functional Morphology
Inferring Autecology from Living Relatives
Inferring Autecology from Sedimentary Environment
Methods of Sampling and Analysis at the Community Level
Sampling Compression-Impression Assemblages
Sampling Permineralized Peats
Sampling Microfossils
Taphonomy and Effective Sampling Radius
Analytical Methods
Synecology of Extinct Vegetation
Synchronic Features of Extinct Vegetation
Comparison of Communities across Time
Ecological Interpretation of Morphology at the Community Level
Ecological Categories
Conclusion References
Taxon-Free Characterization of Animal Communities
Introduction: Taxon-Free Characterizations
One Approach to Taxon-Free Characterization
Ecomorphology and Ecological Types
Functional Morphology and Autecological Inference
Continuous versus Category Variables
A Basic Set of Ecological Variables and Categories
Analyses Using Ecological Types
Complementary Approaches and Higher-Level Inferences References
Paleozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems
Introduction
The Ordovician
The Silurian
The Early to Middle Devonian
Plants
Animals
Synthesis
The Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous
Plants
Animals
Synthesis
The Late Carboniferous: Westphalian and Stephanian
Plants
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Synthesis
The Permian
Plants
Arthropods
Vertebrates
Synthesis
Paleozoic Summary and Discussion
Ecosystem Stability and Persistence
Conclusions References
Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems
Introduction
Triassic Biotas
Triassic Vegetation of Laurasia
Triassic Vegetation o
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time

Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals

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Paperback

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