A first synecological study of the Rhynie chert biota - interactions between organisms and their environment

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The Early Devonian Rhynie chert is the oldest and most completely preserved terrestrial ecosystem that includes a broad spectrum of ecotopes, ranging from aquatic environments to land plant vegetations. Most previous studies focused on systematics; ecological studies dealt with the autoecology of selected taxa only. This project will be the first attempt to address the synecology of the Rhynie chert biota, which includes various groups of organisms, i.e. bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, algae, land plants and animals. The different types of life communities which are preserved in the various chert types will be characterized and their relationships to the abiotic environment will investigated. Special attention will be given to the broad but vastly unexplored spectrum of soil organisms. Interactions and mutual relationships between different organisms will be another main focus of this project. These include e.g. interactions of fungi and cyanobacteria with underground and aerial parts of land plants, ranging from symbiotic to parasitic relationships, the latter often with typical host reactions. Relationships between plants and animals will be studied and it will be attempted to reconstruct food-webs. Inventories of larger chert blocks and mapping of larger chert surfaces will be used to typify and make three-dimensional reconstructions of the different types of land plant associations. The vertical and spatial distribution of the different life assemblages will provide important information on the dynamics within the Rhynie ecosystem. Because of the outstanding preservation the Rhynie chert offers an excellent opportunity to unravel a fossil terrestrial ecosystem to a degree of detail that is unique in the fossil record. This study will thus provide a detailed picture of a terrestrial ecosystem in all its complexity, representing one of the most crucial periods in Earth history, the early colonization of the land. Therefore, this project will also contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems through time.