An Investigation of Cambrian and Ordovician Plant Spores

寒武纪和奥陶纪植物孢子的研究

• 批准号: 0106790
• 负责人: Paul Strother
• 金额: $ 18万
• 依托单位: Boston College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-07-01 至 2005-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0106790&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigation; Cambrian; Ordovician; Plant; Spores

Prior to the middle Silurian (425 Ma) when the first plants with woody tissue appeared, the fossil record of plant life on land is represented only by spores. In the past few decades, Paleobotanists have established that this spore record began about 475 million years ago and that the earliest land plants were probably related to the present day bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Recent discoveries of spores from Middle Cambrian rocks in Tennessee now put the origin of land plants back yet another 50 million years, extending the tenure of this early bryophytic biome. The purpose of this research project is to collect, describe, and study this new evidence for the greater antiquity of the plant kingdom. As we work on describing new species, we hope to establish the timing and stratigraphic extent of these microfossils. With the addition of stable isotope studies, we hope to expand their usefulness in helping to constrain global geochemical models of ancient atmospheres and carbon flux in ancient ecosystems. But the primary purpose of this research is to gain fundamental knowledge about diversity and extent of plant life on the surface of the Earth during the Cambro-Ordovician (545-450 Ma) time interval. Project goals will be achieved through a combination of original fieldwork and comparative examination of museum specimens. Educational outreach for this project will be accomplished via the world wide web.

在中志留世（425 Ma）之前，当第一批具有木质组织的植物出现时，陆地上植物生命的化石记录仅以孢子为代表。 在过去的几十年里，古植物学家已经确定这种孢子记录始于大约4.75亿年前，最早的陆地植物可能与现在的苔藓（苔藓，地钱和角苔）有关。 最近在田纳西州中寒武世岩石中发现的孢子，将陆地植物的起源又推回到了5000万年前，延长了这个早期brbritantic生物群落的任期。 这个研究项目的目的是收集、描述和研究这些新的证据，以证明植物王国的更古老。 当我们致力于描述新物种时，我们希望建立这些微化石的时间和地层范围。 随着稳定同位素研究的增加，我们希望扩大其在帮助限制古大气和古生态系统中碳通量的全球地球化学模型方面的有用性。 但这项研究的主要目的是获得有关寒武-奥陶纪（545-450 Ma）时间间隔内地球表面植物生命多样性和范围的基本知识。 项目目标将通过结合原始实地考察和博物馆标本的比较研究来实现。该项目的教育推广工作将通过万维网完成。