Cretaceous (Late Albian) coniferales of Alexander Island, Antarctica. 1: Wood taxonomy: a quantitative approach

Early Cretaceous araucarian driftwood from hemipelagic sediments of the Puez area, South Tyrol, Italy

We describe a calcareously permineralised fossil tree-trunk, preserved as driftwood, within hemipelagic sediments of the Cretaceous Puez Formation near Wolkenstein, South Tyrol, Italy. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages recovered from the marls containing the fossil wood indicate a latest middle Albian age. Based on its wood anatomy, the trunk is assigned to Agathoxylon and probably has an affinity with the conifer family Araucariaceae. The wood lacks pronounced tree-rings consistent with tree growth within the broad humid tropical belt that existed at that time. The trunk contains cylindrical chambers filled within faecal pellets, demonstrating that oribatid mites infested the tree, either during life, or shortly after death. Prior to final burial, the tree-trunk drifted out into the open sea for a considerable period as indicated by extensive borings assigned to the ichnospecies Teredolites longissimus and produced by teredinid bivalves. Relatively little is known about the Cretaceous floras of Italy, so this new finding fills a gap in our knowledge of the composition and ecology of the vegetation of this region.

Growth ring analysis of fossil coniferous woods from early cretaceous of Araripe Basin

Growth ring analysis on silicified coniferous woods from the Missão Velha Formation (Araripe Basin - Brazil) has yielded important information about periodicity of wood production during the Early Cretaceous in the equatorial belt. Despite warm temperatures, dendrological data indicate that the climate was characterized by cyclical alternation of dry and rainy periods influenced by cyclical precipitations, typical of tropical wet and dry or savanna climate. The abundance of false growth rings can be attributed to both occasional droughts and arthropod damage. The present climate data agree with palaeoclimatic models that inferred summer-wet biomes for the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous boundary in the southern equatorial belt.

Cretaceous and Cenozoic vegetation of Antarctica integrating the fossil wood record

A compilation of data for Cretaceous and Cenozoic Antarctic fossil wood floras, predominantly from the James Ross Island Basin, provides a different perspective on floristic and vegetation change when compared with previous studies that have focused on leaf macrofossils or palynology. The wood record provides a filtered view of tree-forming elements within the vegetation, something that cannot be achieved from studies focusing on regional palynology or leaf floras. Four phases of vegetation development in the over-storey are recognized in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic of the Antarctic Peninsula based on the distribution and taxonomic composition of wood floras: Aptian-Albian coniferous forests; ?Cenomanian-Santonian mixed angiosperm forests; Campanian-Maastrichtian southern temperate forests; and Palaeocene-Eocene reduced diversity Nothofagus forests. Comparisons between the wood record and information derived from palynological and leaf floras have important implications for our understanding of the spatial composition of the vegetation. There is no doubt that climate change during the Cretaceous and Tertiary influenced the vegetational composition, but evolving palaeoenvironments in the Antarctic Peninsula region were probably of equal, if not greater, importance.

Climatic and ecological determinants of leaf lifespan in polar forests of the high CO2 Cretaceous 'greenhouse' world

Polar forests once extended across the high-latitude landmasses during ice-free 'greenhouse' intervals in Earth history. In the Cretaceous 'greenhouse' world, Arctic conifer forests were considered predominantly deciduous, while those on Antarctica contained a significantly greater proportion of evergreens. To investigate the causes of this distinctive biogeographical pattern, we developed a coupled model of conifer growth, soil biogeochemistry and forest dynamics. Our approach emphasized general relationships between leaf lifespan (LL) and function, and incorporated the feedback of LL on soil nutrient status. The model was forced with a mid-Cretaceous 'greenhouse' climate simulated by the Hadley Centre GCM. Simulated polar forests contained mixtures of dominant LLs, which reproduced observed biogeographical patterns of deciduous, mixed and evergreen biomes. It emerged that disturbance by fire was a critical factor. Frequent fires in simulated Arctic ecosystems promoted the dominance of trees with short LLs that were characterized by the rapid growth and colonization rates typical of today's boreal pioneer species. In Antarctica, however, infrequent fires allowed trees with longer LLs to dominate because they attained greater height, despite slower growth rates. A direct test of the approach was successfully achieved by comparing modelled LLs with quantitative estimates using Cretaceous fossil woods from Svalbard in the European Arctic and Alexander Island, Antarctica. Observations and the model both revealed mixed Arctic and evergreen Antarctic communities with peak dominance of trees with the same LLs. Our study represents a significant departure from the long-held belief that leaf habit was an adaptation to warm, dark winter climates, and highlights a previously unrecognized role for disturbance (in whatever guise) in polar forest ecology.

Cretaceous patterns of floristic change in the Antarctic Peninsula

Cretaceous radiation of angiosperms from low to high palaeolatitudes, coupled with the break-up of Gondwana, played a major role in establishing and maintaining biogeographic patterns across the southern hemisphere. Uncertainties in details of plate reconstructions provide conflicting hypotheses about area relationships of Gondwana fragments. This has led to a number of competing proposals concerning angiosperm migration across Gondwana. Central to this debate is the role of the Antarctic Peninsula, a region that is often envisaged as providing the main connection between east and west Gondwana. The initial radiation of angiosperms into the Antarctic Peninsula region, however, postdates appearances elsewhere in east Gondwana (e.g. Australia), strongly suggesting that the Antarctic Peninsula was not the main gateway, at least in the early stages of Gondwana radiation. A steep climatic gradient in this part of the world probably acted as an effective barrier to angiosperm radiation. The peak of floristic replacement coincides with the peak of Cretaceous warmth (Turonian) which in turn suggests that climatic warming acted as a forcing mechanism by pushing latitudinal belts of vegetation southwards. Once into the southern high latitudes angiosperms diversified, and as climates cooled during the Late Cretaceous a number of important groups seem to have their origins here. Recent investigations of Antarctic macro- and microfloras indicate progressive floristic replacement through the Cretaceous. Bryophytes, hepatophytes, bennettites and other seed plants all show a rapid decline in diversity. In contrast, ferns initially decline then recover, while conifers remain relatively stable. The ecological preferences of the replaced groups imply that angiosperms initially occupied areas of disturbance and were understorey colonizers, only later replacing fern thickets and becoming important in the overstorey. This pattern is consistent with those observed elsewhere through the Cretaceous.

Cretaceous (Late Albian) coniferales of Alexander Island, Antarctica. 2. Leaves, reproductive structures and roots

Coniferous foliage from the Albian of Alexander Island, Antarctica, is assigned to the Araucariaceae, Podocarpaceae, and Taxodiaceae based on attached or associated fertile remains. Araucarian foliage represented by Araucaria alexandrensis sp. nov. and A. chambersii sp. nov. is associated with ovulate cone scales described as Araucarites wollemiaformis sp. nov. and A. citadelbastionensis sp. nov., respectively. The Podocarpaceae is represented by Bellingshausium willeyii sp. nov. and the Taxodiaceae by Athrotaxites ungeri, both with attached cones. Sterile foliage is widespread belonging to the form genera Podozamites, Elatocladus, Brachyphyllum and Pagiophyllum. The conifers in this Albian southern high-latitude flora make up ca. 15% of the species diversity. Evidence from leaf litter distribution on palaeosols and leaf morphology suggest that the majority of conifers were large canopy-forming trees, although a few were probably small understorey shrubs.