What can we expect as global change progresses? Will there be thresholds that trigger sudden shifts in environmental conditions—or 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 life—and 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 others—including profound effects on the early members of the human family.


An expert panel offers specific recommendations on expanding research and improving investigative tools—and 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