生物复苏是大灭绝后残存期到辐射期之间的关键环节，深入研究生物复苏，对于揭示大灭绝事件后生物演化的宏观过程、规律和型式有重要意义。这方面的研究虽有不少成果，但还需夯实基础，不断深化，尤其需要加强定量工作。志留纪初Rhuddanian晚期到Aeronian早期，是奥陶纪末大灭绝后的复苏期。华南相关地层出露好，研究历史悠久，腕足动物系统古生物学有较好基础，又有较为准确的生物地层对比框架，故在国际相关研究中占有较强的优势。本项目拟在已有研究和新发现产地及材料的基础上，对华南奥陶纪末大灭绝后的腕足动物开展定量的生物复苏研究，从居群结构到群落生态的不同层面揭示其复苏的宏观过程；在全球框架下，对华南奥陶纪末大灭绝后复苏期腕足动物首次开展定量古生物地理研究，探讨腕足动物在复苏期环境好转时的扩散机制，进而探索全球与区域腕足动物宏演化过程的主要特征与演化型式。

Recovery is a key link between survival and radiation after mass extinction. Researches on biotic recovery have important implications for revealing process, patterns and models of biotic evolution after mass extinction. There have been a lot of studies about recovery. Among them, however, in-depth studies with quantitative analysis are very rare, and should be reinforced. In early Silurian, the interval from the late Rhuddanian to the early Aeronian is the recovery episode after the end Ordovician mass extinction. With good outcropping, long study history, precise stratigraphic correlation and solid foundation in systematic paleontology of brachiopods, related studies in South China have unique advantages. Based on realted existing researches, together with new localities and materials, this project would quantitatively study the brachiopod recovery from the end Ordovician mass extinction in South China, and try to reveal the recovery process in different hierarchies which from population to community; and study paleobiogeography of recovery brachiopods of South China under the global framework, discuss its expansion mechanism within suitable environment during the recovery interval, and discover the relationship between global and regional macro-evolutionary trends.