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Although mass extinctions are typically brief geological events, they disproportionately affect the tempo and mode of the history of life. Mass extinction is considered a governing influence on the diversification, migration, and ecological innovation of biota. Diverse and widespread clades are often obliterated at extinction boundaries and previously obscure taxa sometimes rise to prominence in the wake of extinction. While much is known about the proximate causes and consequences of mass extinction, relatively less study has focused on subsequent recovery periods, especially on timescales of tens of millions of years. Climate change is also considered a fundamental force that shaped the origination and distribution of taxa, however relatively few studies have tested this correlation in deep time. The Upper Cretaceous through lower Paleogene (84 - 46 Ma) Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States (GCP; Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas) contain the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction and a global warming event at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary known to have affected marine organisms. I analyzed molluscan-dominated assemblages to better understand how these forces shaped the diversity and ecological characteristics of assemblages at the local and regional level. I also derived temperature estimates from mollusk shells to assess how climate change affected these organisms. Because of vagaries in the architecture of the fossil record, biases must first be accounted for to remove the spurious effects of preservation and unequal sampling. By doing so, this dissertation represents a synoptic treatment of the diversity and ecological trends of GCP marine assemblages in the 20 million years following the K-Pg extinction. Abundance data were collected from bulk samples, museum collections, and the literature, resulting in a data matrix of 153 samples, 1494 taxa, and 52,585 individuals spanning ~14 fossiliferous horizons in the GCP during the Paleocene to middle Eocene (65.5 - 46.6 Ma). These faunas are dominated by molluscs (bivalves and gastropods) with less common bryozoans, corals, echinoderms, and brachiopods. A subset of these data contains body size measurements. Geochemical data were analyzed from two late Paleocene units and one early Eocene unit. Chapter 1, published in Geology (Sessa et al., 2009), examines the effect of temporally heterogeneous lithification on recovery patterns following the K-Pg extinction. Lithification has been advanced as a potential bias on diversity patterns, and this is one of the first studies to quantify the magnitude of this bias. Lithified units are significantly less diverse than their unlithified counterparts, primarily because small taxa are obscured in lithified rocks. In the GCP, this bias results in the artificial protraction of the K-Pg recovery interval by 7 Myr. Chapter 2 explores the climatic and water mass properties of the GCP during the late Paleocene through early Eocene, a period of extreme global warmth. Temperature estimates from the oxygen isotopes of bivalve shells show a 3°C increase from the late Paleocene through early Eocene. Carbon isotopic profiles from bivalve shells suggest that the GCP water mass became progressively more stratified through this interval. While climatic changes had little effect on the diversity and ecology of assemblages (Chapter 3), the results of Chapter 2 are significant for the calibration and validation of models that reconstruct past greenhouse climates. Chapter 3 analyzes the diversity, ecological structure, and turnover patterns of Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene assemblages. After accounting for unequal sampling intensity, bin duration, and preservation, I found that regional GCP diversity recovered to pre-extinction values in ~2.7 Myr, nearly 20 Myr sooner than suggested by unstandardized estimates. The ecological composition of assemblages was also changed by the K-Pg extinction and was tightly correlated to periods of diversity recovery, expansion, and subsequent equilibrium.
This 3-volume handbook brings together contributions by the world ́s leading specialists that reflect the broad spectrum of modern palaeoanthropology, thus presenting an indispensable resource for professionals and students alike. Vol. 1 reviews principles, methods, and approaches, recounting recent advances and state-of-the-art knowledge in phylogenetic analysis, palaeoecology and evolutionary theory and philosophy. Vol. 2 examines primate origins, evolution, behaviour, and adaptive variety, emphasizing integration of fossil data with contemporary knowledge of the behaviour and ecology of living primates in natural environments. Vol. 3 deals with fossil and molecular evidence for the evolution of Homo sapiens and its fossil relatives.
On Mass extinction and the preservation of biodiversity.
There is little dispute within the scientific community that humans are changing Earth's climate on a decadal to century time-scale. By the end of this century, without a reduction in emissions, atmospheric CO2 is projected to increase to levels that Earth has not experienced for more than 30 million years. As greenhouse gas emissions propel Earth toward a warmer climate state, an improved understanding of climate dynamics in warm environments is needed to inform public policy decisions. In Understanding Earth's Deep Past, the National Research Council reports that rocks and sediments that are millions of years old hold clues to how the Earth's future climate would respond in an environment with high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Understanding Earth's Deep Past provides an assessment of both the demonstrated and underdeveloped potential of the deep-time geologic record to inform us about the dynamics of the global climate system. The report describes past climate changes, and discusses potential impacts of high levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases on regional climates, water resources, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the cycling of life-sustaining elements. While revealing gaps in scientific knowledge of past climate states, the report highlights a range of high priority research issues with potential for major advances in the scientific understanding of climate processes. This proposed integrated, deep-time climate research program would study how climate responded over Earth's different climate states, examine how climate responds to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and clarify the processes that lead to anomalously warm polar and tropical regions and the impact on marine and terrestrial life. In addition to outlining a research agenda, Understanding Earth's Deep Past proposes an implementation strategy that will be an invaluable resource to decision-makers in the field, as well as the research community, advocacy organizations, government agencies, and college professors and students.
The first book to review all the evidence concerning both the dinosaur extinctions and all the other major extinctions - of plant, animal, terrestrial, and marine life - in the history of life. All the extinction mechanisms are critically assessed, including meteorite impact, anoxia, and volcanism. - ;Why do mass extinctions occur? The demise of the dinosaurs has been discussed exhaustively, but has never been out into the context of other extinction events. This is the first systematic review of the mass extinctions of all organisms, plant and animal, terrestrial and marine, that have occurred in the history of life. This includes the major crisis 250 million years ago which nearly wiped out all life on Earth. By examining current paleontological, geological, and sedimentological evidence of environmental changes, the cases for explanations based on climate change, marine regressions, asteroid or comet impact, anoxia, and volcanic eruptions are all critically evaluated. -
Global biological diversity, ecosystem diversity.
Changing Ecosystems and their Services provides a very interesting account of the frontiers of biodiversity and ecological research. It consists of seven chapters covering mass extinctions: the "Big Five" and "The Sixth", which are recent global ecological crises, Caribbean biodiversity, acoustic habitat degradation due to shipping in the world's oceans, methane production of microbes in Amazonian floodplains, African mangrove forests, pollination as ecosystem services in Ethiopia, and climate change management. I am sure that this book will be very useful for everybody-researchers, teachers, students, or others interested in the field-who would benefit from insight into biodiversity research.
Marine Paleobiodiversity presents a concise history, development and current status of paleobiodiversity research, thus forming a reference work for beginners, graduates and postgraduates, who are interested in this subject and intend venture into serious research. This book provides a link-reference between text book and highly-specialized journal articles, and so will be valuable for a wide audience of geologists and climatologists. Presents studies on the human environmental impacts in climate changes, future sea level perturbations and the influence these have on biodiversity Authored by a renowned researcher with over 15 years’ experience in the field Includes recent research on the importance of paleobiodiversity patterns that influence sea level fluctuations
"A bold and successful attempt to illustrate the theoretical foundations of all of the subdisciplines of ecology, including basic and applied, and extending through biophysical, population, community, and ecosystem ecology. Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology is a compendium of clear and concise essays by the intellectual leaders across this vast breadth of knowledge."--Harold Mooney, Stanford University "A remarkable and indispensable reference work that also is flexible enough to provide essential readings for a wide variety of courses. A masterful collection of authoritative papers that convey the rich and fundamental nature of modern theoretical ecology."--Simon A. Levin, Princeton University "Theoretical ecologists exercise their imaginations to make sense of the astounding complexity of both real and possible ecosystems. Imagining a real or possible topic left out of the Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology has proven just as challenging. This comprehensive compendium demonstrates that theoretical ecology has become a mature science, and the volume will serve as the foundation for future creativity in this area."--Fred Adler, University of Utah "The editors have assembled an outstanding group of contributors who are a great match for their topics. Sometimes the author is a key, authoritative figure in a field; and at other times, the author has enough distance to convey all sides of a subject. The next time you need to introduce ecology students to a theoretical topic, you'll be glad to have this encyclopedia on your bookshelf."--Stephen Ellner, Cornell University “Everything you wanted to know about theoretical ecology, and much that you didn’t know you needed to know but will now! Alan Hastings and Louis Gross have done us a great service by bringing together in very accessible form a huge amount of information about a broad, complicated, and expanding field.”--Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean: Interdisciplinary Science in Support of Nature and People emphasizes strategies to better connect the practice of marine conservation with the needs and priorities of a growing global human population. It conceptualizes nature and people as part of shared ecosystems, with interdisciplinary methodologies and science-based applications for coupled sustainability. A central challenge facing conservation is the development of practical means for addressing the interconnectedness of ecosystem health and human well-being, advancing the fundamental interdisciplinary science that underlies conservation practice, and implementing this science in decisions to manage, preserve, and restore ocean ecosystems. Though humans have intentionally and unintentionally reshaped their environments for thousands of years, the scale and scope of human influence upon the oceans in the Anthropocene is unprecedented. Ocean science has increased our knowledge of the threats and impacts to ecological integrity, yet the unique scale and scope of changes increases uncertainty about responses of dynamic socio-ecological systems. Thus, to understand and protect the biodiversity of the ocean and ameliorate the negative impacts of ocean change on people, it is critical to understand human beliefs, values, behaviors, and impacts. Conversely, on a human-dominated planet, it is impossible to understand and address human well-being and chart a course for sustainable use of the oceans without understanding the implications of environmental change for human societies that depend on marine ecosystems and resources. This work therefore presents a timely, needed, and interdisciplinary approach to the conservation of our oceans. Helps marine conservation scientists apply principles from oceanography, ecology, anthropology, economics, political science, and other natural and social sciences to manage and preserve marine biodiversity Facilitates understanding of how and why social and environmental processes are coupled in the quest to achieve healthy and sustainable oceans Uses a combination of expository material, practical approaches, and forward-looking theoretical discussions to enhance value for readers as they consider conservation research, management and planning