Journal article
Arctic plant diversity in the early Eocene greenhouse
Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, v 279(1733), pp 1515-1521
22 Apr 2012
PMID: 22072610
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
For the majority of the Early Caenozoic, a remarkable expanse of humid, mesothermal to temperate forests spread across Northern Polar regions that now contain specialized plant and animal communities adapted to life in extreme environments. Little is known on the taxonomic diversity of Arctic floras during greenhouse periods of the Caenozoic. We show for the first time that plant richness in the globally warm Early Eocene (approx. 55-52 Myr) in the Canadian High Arctic (76 degrees N) is comparable with that approximately 3500 km further south at mid-latitudes in the US western interior (44-47 degrees N). Arctic Eocene pollen floras are most comparable in richness with today's forests in the southeastern United States, some 5000 km further south of the Arctic. Nearly half of the Eocene, Arctic plant taxa are endemic and the richness of pollen floras implies significant patchiness to the vegetation type and clear regional richness of angiosperms. The reduced latitudinal diversity gradient in Early Eocene North American plant species demonstrates that extreme photoperiod in the Arctic did not limit taxonomic diversity of plants.
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Details
- Title
- Arctic plant diversity in the early Eocene greenhouse
- Creators
- Guy J. Harrington - University of BirminghamJaelyn Eberle - University of Colorado Museum of Natural HistoryBen A. Le-Page - Drexel University, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel UniversityMary Dawson - Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryJ. Howard Hutchison - University of California, Berkeley
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, v 279(1733), pp 1515-1521
- Publisher
- Royal Society of London
- Number of pages
- 7
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000301332900008
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84857985658
- Other Identifier
- 991021868095904721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology