Effects of Past Global Change on Life Hardback

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 ContentsFront MatterOVERVIEWINTRODUCTIONMETHODSPeriodic CyclesThe Eocene-Oligocene TransitionThe Terminal Ordovician TransitionRATES OF TRANSITIONThe Nature of ThresholdsPATTERNS OF BIOTIC RESPONSEExtinctionEvolutionary TurnoverDelayed RecoveryRECOMMENDATIONSREFERENCESBackgroundINTRODUCTIONGeochemical Evidence for Atmospheric ChangePaleontological Evidence for Evolutionary InnovationBiological Reasons for LinkagePaleontological DataGeochemical DataCONCLUSIONSREFERENCESABSTRACTTHE TIME FRAMETHE PALEOGEOGRAPHIC FRAMEWORKGEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF DEEP OCEAN VENTILATIONShelly FaunasENVIRONMENTAL-ORGANISMAL CHANGES: A SUMMARYREFERENCESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHIGH-RESOLUTION APPROACH TO DOCUMENTING ANCIENT ENVIRONMENTALCHANGETHE CENOMANIAN-TURONIAN (C-T) MASS EXTINCTION - AN ANCIENT GLOBALBIODIVERSITY CRISIS IN A CHAOTIC GREENHOUSE WORLDA CASE HISTORY: THE PUEBLO, COLORADO, C-T BOUNDARY SECTIONESTABLISHING A CHRONOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECLINE AND MASSEXTINCTION ACROSS THE C-T BOUNDARYINTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONSREFERENCESLate Cenomanian Background ConditionsLate Cenomanian Mass ExtinctionEnd Of Sampling IntervalABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONHOW COMPLETE ARE K/T BOUNDARY SECTIONS?Planktic ForaminiferaCalcareous NannoplanktonEl Kef, TunisiaCaravaca, SpainBrazos, TexasODP Site 738C, Indian Antarctic OceanCalcareous NannoplanktonARE SPECIFIC HABITATS SELECTIVELY DESTROYED?DISCUSSION AND SUMMARYREFERENCESINTRODUCTIONTERMINAL PALEOCENE MASS EXTINCTION IN THE DEEP SEAASSOCIATION BETWEEN MASS EXTINCTION AND OCEANIC WARMINGCAUSE OF MASS EXTINCTION IN DEEP SEACAUSE OF OCEANOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATE CHANGEIMPLICATIONS AND SUMMARYREFERENCESINTRODUCTIONOXYGEN ISOTOPIC RECORDS OF LOW LATITUDE TEMPERATURESARGUMENTS FOR TROPICAL TEMPERATURE STABILITYMODEL-DERIVED TROPICAL TEMPERATURESSUMMARY OF TROPICAL CLIMATE EXTREMESCLIMATE TOLERANCES OF TROPICAL ORGANISMSA MID-CRETACEOUS CASE STUDYREFERENCESABSTRACTThe Pliocene Prior to 2.5 MaOnset of the Ice Age at 2.5 to 2.4 MaAfricaEuropeMarine BiotasPlateau UpliftIce-Sheet Forcing of Climatic ChangeSUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSREFERENCESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONPeat SwampsClastic WetlandsResolution at 100- to 104-yr Time Scales: Habitats and SpeciesAssemblagesResolution at the 105- to 107-yr Time Scale: Interseam PatternsCoal-Swamp Species and EcomorphsChanges at the Landscape LevelChanges in the Habitat Composition of LandscapesChanges in the Species-Level Composition of HabitatsEvidence for Climatic VariabilityRelationships of Climatic Patterns to Vegetational PatternsSUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONSHierarchical OrganizationLong-Term Species Replacement Dynamics: Evolutionary ImplicationsREFERENCESINTRODUCTIONAlbian-Cenomanian and Arrival of AngiospermsTuronian-Coniacian-SantonianAlbian-Cenomanian and Early AngiospermsTuronian-Coniacian-SantonianEoceneEoceneNorthern and Southern Floras: Deciduous Versus EvergreenCenozoic Vegetational ChangesREFERENCESUNIQUENESS OF THE AUSTRALIAN SYSTEMMODERN VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIAMAJOR TERTIARY CLIMATIC CHANGESPLANT MEGAFOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR CLIMATIC CHANGEREFERENCESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONChronofaunas and Turnover PulsesImportance of ImmigrantsPaleocene Chronofauna: Tropical ForestWhite River Chronofauna: Woodland SavannaSheep Creek Chronofauna: Park SavannaClarendonian Chronofauna: Grassland SavannaLate Pliocene and Pleistocene: Further Continentality andProvincialismRESULTSDISCUSSIONEuropean Land Mammal RecordIndian Land Mammal RecordOxygen Isotopes and Mammal ImmigrationsCONCLUSIONSREFERENCESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONEcology of Modern Planktonic ForaminiferaRESULTS AND DISCUSSIONStable Isotopic RecordsFaunal Response to Temperature and Salinity Changes in the Gulf ofMexicoCONCLUSIONSREFERENCESINTRODUCTIONSENSITIVITY OF POLLEN DATA TO VEGETATION PATTERNSMAPS OF CHANGING TAXON DISTRIBUTION THROUGH TIMEIMPLICATIONS FOR SPECIES AND EVOLUTIONTIME AND SPACE SCALES OF VEGETATIONAL AND TAXONOMIC UNITSREFERENCESABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONDEVELOPMENT IN APES, HUMANS, AND AUSTRALOPITHECINESArboreal TraitsThe Arboreal ImperativeCLIMATIC FORCINGREFERENCESIndex