华北上新世-更新世过渡期植被、气候与大气CO_2研究进展

上新世-更新世过渡期是新生代全球气候变化的重要拐点之一,此期气候经历了由"暖室"向"冰室"的转变。研究该气候转型期的特征可为科学界和国家层面应对现在和未来的全球气候变暖提供理论基础和实践指导。通过深入研究中国华北山西榆社盆地张村组上新世-更新世过渡期地层中保存的植物大化石、孢粉以及硅藻组合,为重建该时段陆地生态系统中植被演替和气候变化提供坚实的生物学证据。在综合回顾张村组化石植物研究历史的基础上,侧重介绍最近5年在古植被、古气候、古环境以及古大气CO2浓度重建等方面的最新进展。这些新成果定性及定量地刻画了第三纪-第四纪之交中国北方黄土高原东南缘气候变干、变凉的转型过程及其陆地生态系统中大气CO2浓度先升后降的变化趋势。     

中国裸子植物的物种多样性格局及其影响因子

物种多样性的大尺度空间格局是宏观生态学和生物地理学研究的核心问题之一。本文利用中国裸子植物分布数据, 结合气候、地形等环境信息, 分析了中国裸子植物物种多样性的大尺度格局及其影响因素, 比较了不同类群之间物种多样性格局和主导因子的差异, 并探讨了裸子植物在植物区系中所占比重的地理格局。结果表明, 中国裸子植物的物种多样性总体上呈现南高北低的趋势, 物种多样性在横断山区最高。在裸子植物的三个主要类群中, 松柏亚纲的物种多样性格局与整体相似, 买麻藤亚纲的多样性高值区则出现在中国西北部的干旱地区, 苏铁亚纲的分布区较为狭窄, 主要集中在南方地区。线性回归分析结果表明, 空间异质性和降水因子对中国裸子植物多样性格局的解释率最高, 末次冰期以来的气温变化、海拔高差和能量因子次之。这表明中国裸子植物物种多样性的格局受到了多种因素的影响, 其中空间异质性和降水因子影响最大。进一步分析发现, 物种多样性格局的主导因子在不同类群之间具有显著差异, 这可能反映了这些类群的进化历史以及生理适应的差异。裸子植物与被子植物的比例具有明显的空间格局: 在东部、南部气候环境优越的地区, 裸子植物与被子植物的比例低于0.06; 而在西部、北部等气候环境比较恶劣的地区, 裸子植物的比例则显著上升。回归分析表明, 能量和水分因子显著影响了裸子植物与被子植物的比例。随着能量的降低和降水的减少, 裸子植物与被子植物的比例会显著升高, 这可能是由于被子植物在温暖湿润地区具有较强竞争优势, 但裸子植物对极端环境具有更好的适应。     

陆生植物气孔参数与大气CO_2浓度变化

陆生植物的起源与演化与全球气候和环境的变化密不可分,利用植物气孔参数(气孔密度和气孔指数)来指示或重建古大气CO2浓度变化是近年来全球变化研究的热点之一。就陆生植物气孔参数的研究进行了概述,对研究中存在的问题及其前景作了简要探讨,并对植物生物学方法在定量研究古气候和古环境变化的趋势进行了分析。     

植物对环境的响应--定量重建古气候的研究进展

生物演化的本质是生物遗传物质与外部环境的辩证统一。一方面,植物和环境的协调发展推动植物界自身的演化;另一方面,外部环境的改变在植物的形态结构、生理功能、繁衍机理,以至最终在遗传物质上留下痕迹,这就是植物对环境的响应。从长时间尺度上(可以达到上亿年)研究植物界的发生发展,是一个探讨和理解植物起源与演化的生命科学问题,也是从宏观角度认识生物演化和全球变化的相关关系的环境科学问题。目前,国际上对全球环境变化的研究,正在加大研究的时间尺度和提高研究的精确程度,即在距今百万年至数千万年,甚至更长的时间范围内,从定性到定量的研究和理解全球变化的过程、规律和机制,以便更有效地预测气候的未来变化。本文介绍了最近10年里,采用特有种气候分析法、共存分析法、叶相分析法、植物气孔参数与古大气CO2浓度变化的相关性,定量研究古环境和古气候方面所取得的进展。     

陆生植物气孔参数与大气CO2浓度变化

陆生植物的起源与演化与全球气候和环境的变化密不可分,利用植物气孔参数(气孔密度和气孔指数)来指示或重建古大气CO₂浓度变化是近年来全球变化研究的热点之一。就陆生植物气孔参数的研究进行了概述,对研究中存在的问题及其前景作了简要探讨,并对植物生物学方法在定量研究古气候和古环境变化的趋势进行了分析。     

植物对环境的响应——定量重建古气候的研究进展

生物演化的本质是生物遗传物质与外部环境的辩证统一。一方面,植物和环境的协调发展推动植物界自身的演化;另一方面,外部环境的改变在植物的形态结构、生理功能、繁衍机理,以至最终在遗传物质上留下痕迹,这就是植物对环境的响应。从长时间尺度上（可以达到上亿年）研究植物界的发生发展,是一个探讨和理解植物起源与演化的生命科学问题,也是从宏观角度认识生物演化和全球变化的相关关系的环境科学问题。目前,国际上对全球环境变化的研究,正在加大研究的时间尺度和提高研究的精确程度,即在距今百万年至数千万年,甚至更长的时间范围内,从定性到定量的研究和理解全球变化的过程、规律和机制,以便更有效地预测气候的未来变化。本文介绍了最近10年里,采用特有种气候分析法、共存分析法、叶相分析法、植物气孔参数与古大气CO2浓度变化的相关性,定量研究古环境和古气候方面所取得的进展。     

木贼类和真蕨类是与种子植物关系最近的单元类群

苔藓类、蕨类和种子植物发生发展的过程构成了陆地植物四亿七千万年演化历史的主要内容。在九千万年以前 ,被子植物诞生并发展成为陆地生态系统中的优势类群。随着多基因序列分析的开展 ,我们对于被子植物系统发育的认识 ,特别是它们早期演化路线分支系统的认识不断丰富和提高。对泥盆纪 (距今约四亿年 )以来的维管植物所有主要演化路线相互关系的重建至今依然是个挑战。本文报道了对陆地植物所有主要演化路线的35种代表类群的形态学特征和四个基因的资料所进行的综合系统学分析。通过对这些植物的两个基因组的四个基因 :质体ａｔｐＢ ,ｒｂ…     

黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物丰富度格局及其影响因子

生物多样性的大尺度空间分布格局及其形成机制一直是生态学和生物地理学的核心内容。黄河流域是我国重要的生态屏障, 明确该区域动植物多样性分布格局及其影响因素, 对我国黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展具有重要意义。本研究通过收集黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物分布数据, 结合气候、环境异质性和人类活动等信息, 探讨了黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物物种丰富度格局及其主要影响因素。结果表明, 黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物物种丰富度在区域尺度具有相似的分布格局: 南部山地动植物物种丰富度最高, 而东部高寒区和北部干旱区物种丰富度最低。回归树模型表明, 冠层高度范围和净初级生产力范围分别是黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物物种丰富度最重要的预测因子; 当移除空间自相关影响后, 环境异质性和气候因子依然对区域尺度的动植物物种丰富度具有较高且相似的解释度。表明环境异质性和气候共同决定了黄河流域被子植物和陆栖脊椎动物物种丰富度格局, 而人类使用土地面积并不是影响黄河流域动植物物种丰富度格局的主要因子。因此, 在未来的研究中若针对不同区域筛选出更精准的环境驱动因子或选用更多不同类别的环境异质性因子进行分析, 将有助于更深入理解物种多样性格局的成因。     

基于植物大化石定量重建云南景谷早中新世古气候*

运用叶缘分析法(LMA)、气候叶相分析多变量程序(CLAMP)和共存因子分析法(CA)定量重建云南景谷中新世植物群的古气候。对不同方法的结果进行分析比较和交叉验证,得出景谷古气候主要参数:年均温为16.0±1.3℃、最暖月均温为26.3±1.5℃、最冷月均温为6.2±2.6℃、生长季为8.6±0.7个月、生长季降雨量为1 492±218mm、连续3个最湿月降水为701±139mm和连续3个最干月降水为170±41mm。这些数据反映了景谷中新世气候应属于南-中亚热带气候类型。同时,该植物群含有大量热带植物区系成分,也支持这一结论。另外,景谷地区早中新世温度、降水量季节性差异可能暗示了当时已经出现较弱的季风信号,但强烈的典型季风气候体系在当时可能尚未建立。     

环境演变背景下的早期人类起源与演化

正我们越来越关注环境变化对人类自身生活的影响,然而早期人类起源与演化是否和全球环境演变有某种关系呢?相关研究结果显示,人类的起源与演化固然有其内在的因素在起作用,但外部自然环境的变迁也对其产生了十分重要的影响。古人类学研究表明,人类演化具有阶段性,并且在某些时段具有类似于突变的特征。而古人类这种演化特点和新近纪以来古气候、古环     

New developments in CLAMP: Calibration using global gridded meteorological data

Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) is a versatile technique for obtaining quantitative estimates for multiple terrestrial palaeoclimate variables from woody dicot leaf assemblages. To date it has been most widely applied to the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary of the mid- to high latitudes because of concerns over the relative dearth of calibration sites in modern low-latitude warm climates, and the loss of information associated with the lack of marginal teeth on leaves in paratropical to tropical vegetation. This limits CLAMP's ability to quantify reliably climates at low latitudes in greenhouse worlds of the past.One of the reasons for the lack of CLAMP calibration samples from warm environments is the paucity of climate stations close to potential calibration vegetation sites at low latitudes. Agriculture and urban development have destroyed most lowland sites and natural vegetation is now largely confined to mountainous areas where climate stations are few and climatic spatial variation is high due to topographic complexity. To attempt to overcome this we have utilised a 0.5° × 0.5° grid of global interpolated climate data based on the data set of New et al. (1999) supplemented by the ERA40 re-analysis data for atmospheric temperature at upper levels. For each location, the 3-D climatology of temperature from the ECMWF re-analysis project was used to calculate the mean lower tropospheric lapse rate for each month of the year. The gridded data were then corrected to the altitude of the plant site using the monthly lapse rates. Corrections for humidity were also made. From this the commonly returned CLAMP climate variables were calculated. A bilinear interpolation scheme was then used to calculate the climate parameters at the exact lat/long of the site.When CLAMP analyses using the PHYSG3BR physiognomic data calibrated with the climate station based MET3BR were compared to analyses using the gridded data at the same locations (GRIDMET3BR), the results were indistinguishable in that they fell within the range of statistical uncertainty determined for each analysis. This opens the way to including natural vegetation anywhere in the world irrespective of the proximity of a meteorological station.     

Is southern Africa different? An investigation of the relationship between leaf physiognomy and climate in southern African mesic vegetation

Leaves from 24 South African vegetation sites, including 3 Fynbos sites, exhibiting high levels of endemism, were assessed by both LMA (Leaf Margin Analysis) and CLAMP (Climate Leaf Multivariate Program) to determine the effect of endemism on these palaeoclimate proxies. We examined whether existing calibrations using either locally recorded climate data or globally gridded climate data are appropriate for South Africa, or whether new calibrations specific to the region provide more accurate results. The results suggest that calibrations using gridded data yield slightly cooler estimates using LMA when the percentage of entire margined species is over 25. Overall, however, the differences are small and both gridded and local climate station calibration data can be used with equal accuracy. Xeric sites differ from mesic sites regarding the relationship between leaf margin proportion (LMP) and MAT, but with the exception of Fynbos sites, the differences are small when the percentage of entire margined species is < 65. Fynbos sites plot up to 8 °C cooler for a given leaf margin percentage (LMP) than do other sites. LMA was also sensitive to the number of taxa scored and in general should not be attempted on less than 15 leaf morphotypes per site. For CLAMP, the African non-Fynbos sites plotted within the parameters characterized by the existing PHYSG3BRC data set, indicating that they had a leaf physiognomic response to climate consistent with that of the rest of the world. However, the African non-Fynbos sites did fill a previously unoccupied void within that space, indicating the existence of a regional variance from the global pattern. This suggests that endemism per se does not prevent CLAMP from yielding reliable climate predictions. The inclusion of African non-Fynbos sites into the calibration improved the ability of CLAMP to predict Fynbos site climate, although this remained poor for non-coastal xeromorphic Fynbos vegetation. The addition of the African non-Fynbos vegetation did not degrade significantly the PHYSG3BRC calibration, particularly regarding key climatic variables such as enthalpy. Enthalpy appears to be a particularly robust variable with which to test climate model performance against CLAMP palaeoclimate predictions.     

Quantitative reconstruction of palaeoclimate from the Middle Miocene Shanwang flora, eastern China

The fossil leaf flora from the Shanwang Formation, Linqu County, Shandong Province, eastern China, is diverse, abundant, well preserved and discretely spaced, all of which make it suitable for the recognition and application of leaf physiognomic characters. This article is the first study of Chinese Tertiary floras using the CLAMP (Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program) approach. Numerous bedding planes yield leaf assemblages through over 20 m thickness of diatomaceous shales within the Middle Miocene Shanwang Formation. The diatomaceous shales, containing abundant fossils, have been divided into 19 units. A working platform (3×3 m) in the Diatomite Quarry of Shanwang was studied for about 3 months in 1998 and as many fossils as possible were recorded layer by layer. This collecting method, used for the first time in the history of Shanwang research, enabled us to record the presence or absence of megafossils in distinct units so that we could investigate leaf physiognomic characteristics and palaeoclimate for each time interval. Leaf fossils from six units (5, 6, 7, 13, 15 and 16) have been used to estimate palaeoclimate parameters of the Shanwang area using the CLAMP 3B dataset. The predicted climate is that of a lakeside setting, at over 1000 m above sea level and within the 17–15-Ma time interval. Meteorological factors have been estimated using the CLAMP approach, including mean annual temperature (MAT; 9.5–11.2°C), warmest month mean temperature (20.2–22.5°C), growing season length (5.9–6.8 months), mean growing season precipitation (83–165 cm) and relative humidity (73–79%). MAT estimates from leaf margin analysis (LMA) range from 12.5 to 15.2°C, which are a maximum of 4° higher than those from our CLAMP analyses and from previous results of LMA studies of the Shanwang flora (10–13°C). Nearest living relatives (NLR) of other biota (pollen, fish, insects, diatoms, microthyriaceous fungi, etc.) indicate warm and moist temperate to subtropical conditions in the Shanwang area during the Miocene. CLAMP predictions are similar to the climate predicted from NLRs although the MAT prediction is a few degrees cooler. The fact that the Shanwang leaf flora is from a lacustrine sequence may have biased the CLAMP analysis towards cooler (and possibly wetter) climates. The modern Yangtze River valley is a reasonable environmental analogue for the Shanwang Middle Miocene, though Shanwang may have had cooler summers, cooler MAT and less seasonality in rainfall. The climate was essentially constant during deposition of the sequence studied, with possible minor variations in precipitation.     

Cryptic phenology in plants: Case studies,implications, and recommendations

Plant phenology—the timing of cyclic or recurrent biological events in plants—offers insight into the ecology, evolution, and seasonality of plant‐mediated ecosystem processes. Traditionally studied phenologies are readily apparent, such as flowering events, germination timing, and season‐initiating budbreak. However, a broad range of phenologies that are fundamental to the ecology and evolution of plants, and to global biogeochemical cycles and climate change predictions, have been neglected because they are “cryptic”—that is, hidden from view (e.g., root production) or difficult to distinguish and interpret based on common measurements at typical scales of examination (e.g., leaf turnover in evergreen forests). We illustrate how capturing cryptic phenology can advance scientific understanding with two case studies: wood phenology in a deciduous forest of the northeastern USA and leaf phenology in tropical evergreen forests of Amazonia. Drawing on these case studies and other literature, we argue that conceptualizing and characterizing cryptic plant phenology is needed for understanding and accurate prediction at many scales from organisms to ecosystems. We recommend avenues of empirical and modeling research to accelerate discovery of cryptic phenological patterns, to understand their causes and consequences, and to represent these processes in terrestrial biosphere models.     

Integrated research of plant functional traits is important for the understanding of ecosystem processes

Current understanding of carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystem views “quantity” of litter input as a parameter determining the size of soil C pools and soil respired CO₂: quantity of litter input is not considered a driving factor affecting the patterns of terrestrial ecosystem processes. Emma J. Sayer and collaborators demonstrated that this may not be the case! With a neat and elegant, for its simplicity, manipulation experiment, Sayer et al. (this issue) showed how increasing input of leaf litter affects the patterns of root distribution along the soil profile, in a relatively nutrient rich tropical soil. In their study, roots responded rapidly to changes in fresh leaf litter input and appeared to closely follow the patterns of litter decomposition. Until this study, root exploitation of standing litter was seen solely as an adaptation to nutrient shortage in the mineral soil. Feedback processes between leaf litterfall, decomposition and root dynamics are envisaged. With global climate change likely to alter plant productivity and litterfall, similar feedbacks, if confirmed, will need to be included in terrestrial ecosystem C modelling.     

Early Cretaceous angiosperms of the Soviet Union based on leaf and fruit remains

Five newly collected Early Cretaceous angiosperms from the Kolyma River in Siberia are described. There are two new species of leaf, Cinnamomoides ievlevii and Celastrophyllum serrulatus and a new genus of fruit, Kenella harrisiana together with two leaves, Nelumbites aff. minimus Vachrameev and Celastrophyllum aff. hunteri Ward. Early Cretaceous angiosperm records for the Soviet Union are given in a table and their significance is discussed. It is argued that by the end of the Early Cretaceous whon the flora underwent a substantial change angiosperms were already distinguished by their high state of morphological development judging by leaf form and systematic composition. They were widely spread occurring in regions of both temperate and warm humid climates. They appear to have been plants of mountains, including trees and herbs, terrestrial and aquatic. With the advent of physical and climatic changes these angiosperms were ready for rapid expansion. Their domination of the vegetation of the Late Cretaceous was not as inexplicable as previously thought.     

Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition

Marine and terrestrial animals show a mosaic of lineage extinctions and diversifications during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition. However, despite its potential importance in shaping animal evolution, few palaeontological studies have focussed on this interval and the possible climate and biotic drivers of its faunal turnover. In consequence evolutionary patterns in most groups are poorly understood. We use a new, large morphological dataset to examine patterns of lineage diversity and disparity (variety of form) in the marine tetrapod clade Plesiosauria, and compare these patterns with those of other organisms. Although seven plesiosaurian lineages have been hypothesised as crossing the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, our most parsimonious topology suggests the number was only three. The robust recovery of a novel group including most Cretaceous plesiosauroids (Xenopsaria, new clade) is instrumental in this result. Substantial plesiosaurian turnover occurred during the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary interval, including the loss of substantial pliosaurid, and cryptoclidid diversity and disparity, followed by the radiation of Xenopsaria during the Early Cretaceous. Possible physical drivers of this turnover include climatic fluctuations that influenced oceanic productivity and diversity: Late Jurassic climates were characterised by widespread global monsoonal conditions and increased nutrient flux into the opening Atlantic‐Tethys, resulting in eutrophication and a highly productive, but taxonomically depauperate, plankton. Latest Jurassic and Early Cretaceous climates were more arid, resulting in oligotrophic ocean conditions and high taxonomic diversity of radiolarians, calcareous nannoplankton and possibly ammonoids. However, the observation of discordant extinction patterns in other marine tetrapod groups such as ichthyosaurs and marine crocodylomorphs suggests that clade‐specific factors may have been more important than overarching extrinsic drivers of faunal turnover during the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary interval.     

Rates of dinosaur limb evolution provide evidence for exceptional radiation in Mesozoic birds

Birds are the most diverse living tetrapod group and are a model of large-scale adaptive radiation. Neontological studies suggest a radiation within the avian crown group, long after the origin of flight. However, deep time patterns of bird evolution remain obscure because only limited fossil data have been considered. We analyse cladogenesis and limb evolution on the entire tree of Mesozoic theropods, documenting the dinosaur–bird transition and immediate origins of powered flight. Mesozoic birds inherited constraints on forelimb evolution from non-flying ancestors, and species diversification rates did not accelerate in the earliest flying taxa. However, Early Cretaceous short-tailed birds exhibit both phenotypic release of the hindlimb and increased diversification rates, unparalleled in magnitude at any other time in the first 155 Myr of theropod evolution. Thus, a Cretaceous adaptive radiation of stem-group birds was enabled by restructuring of the terrestrial locomotor module, which represents a key innovation. Our results suggest two phases of radiation in Avialae: with the Cretaceous diversification overwritten by extinctions of stem-group birds at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary, and subsequent diversification of the crown group. Our findings illustrate the importance of fossil data for understanding the macroevolutionary processes generating modern biodiversity.     

Latitudinal variation in habitat specificity of ameronothrid mites (Oribatida)

Ameronothroid mites, including Ameronothridae, Fortuyniidae and Selenoribatidae, are unique among the Oribatida through having a global distribution from the tropics to the poles, and occupying a diversity of habitats including terrestrial, marine and freshwater. Their ecological diversification is of considerable interest from both the perspective of evolution over geological timescales, and the detail of the underlying processes. Given their widespread global distribution, it seems likely that historical global events (tectonic and climatic) have played a fundamental role in their ecological diversification. Previous studies of sub-Antarctic island arthropods have generated considerable circumstantial evidence in support of glaciation being a primary factor influencing ecological patterns: lower habitat specificity and weaker interspecific interactions are associated with more recent (postglacial) vegetated terrestrial biotopes, as compared to the older epilithic and littoral biotopes (which are assumed to have been present, albeit reduced in extent, during Neogene glacial maxima). Here, we use ameronothrid mites as a case study to examine the extent to which the above island scenario generalizes globally across latitudes affected by glaciation. We show that, unlike congeners or even conspecifics at lower latitudes in each hemisphere which are restricted to marine environments, the species found at higher latitudes (especially Alaskozetes antarcticus, Ameronothrus dubinini, Ameronothrus lineatus, and Halozetes belgicae) show greater affinity for terrestrial environments. They show a transition or expansion of habitat use (from marine-influenced to terrestrial habitats) implicit with a lower degree of habitat specificity, in relation to increasing latitude. We contend that the terrestrial environment at higher latitudes in both hemispheres has been colonized by these ameronothrid mite species following the various glaciation events, facilitated by a lack of competition experienced in their low diversity communities, in a manner which represents a larger scale demonstration of the processes described on sub-Antarctic islands.     

Island life in the Cretaceous - faunal composition,biogeography, evolution,and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago

The Late Cretaceous was a time of tremendous global change, as the final stages of the Age of Dinosaurs were shaped by climate and sea level fluctuations and witness to marked paleogeographic and faunal changes, before the end-Cretaceous bolide impact. The terrestrial fossil record of Late Cretaceous Europe is becoming increasingly better understood, based largely on intensive fieldwork over the past two decades, promising new insights into latest Cretaceous faunal evolution. We review the terrestrial Late Cretaceous record from Europe and discuss its importance for understanding the paleogeography, ecology, evolution, and extinction of land-dwelling vertebrates. We review the major Late Cretaceous faunas from Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, Portugal, and Romania, as well as more fragmentary records from elsewhere in Europe. We discuss the paleogeographic background and history of assembly of these faunas, and argue that they are comprised of an endemic ‘core’ supplemented with various immigration waves. These faunas lived on an island archipelago, and we describe how this insular setting led to ecological peculiarities such as low diversity, a preponderance of primitive taxa, and marked changes in morphology (particularly body size dwarfing). We conclude by discussing the importance of the European record in understanding the end-Cretaceous extinction and show that there is no clear evidence that dinosaurs or other groups were undergoing long-term declines in Europe prior to the bolide impact.