晚古生代全球范围内发生了由泥盆纪“温室地球”到石炭纪“冰室地球”的转变。受此影响，石炭纪全球生物群的面貌发生了不同程度的改变。在这巨大的变革中造礁生物群落是如何适应并采取哪些对策来响应可能带来灭顶之灾的变化？其驱动机制和演化的细节是什么？观测并解析这些科学问题的内在机制有助于我们更好地认识生物群落对不同尺度环境事件的响应途径。F/F生物灭绝事件之后，石炭纪造礁群落快速经历了孕育、复苏、初步繁盛、群落更替、全面繁盛等几个阶段。而这一时期恰好是发生在全球冰期阶段，显示出群落更替与冰期极为吻合的对应关系。广西贵州地区发育并保存了从Tournaisian期到Gzhelian期完整的造礁群落，详细记录了这一时期地球历史的演化过程和细节，是观测和研究群落演化对冰期响应机制的最佳地区。详细研究石炭纪造礁群落演化的细节能够有助于认识该冰期作用的范围、方式、影响程度及群落的适应机制。

The Late Paleozoic witnessed a global transition from the Devonian “greenhouse” to the Carboniferous “icehouse”. Affected by this transition, the global biota of Carboniferous changed in different degrees. How did the reef communities adapt to and respond to the catastrophic changes during this global transition? What were the details of its driving mechanism and evolution? The research on these scientific questions will help to better understand the response ways of biological communities to environmental events at different scales. After the F/F mass extinction event, the carboniferous reef communities underwent underwent evolutionary episodes of gestation, recovery, community replacement and flourish, recording the evolution details of the earth during this period. The reefs from Tournaisian to Gzhelian stages are well developed and preserved in Guangxi and Guizhou, providing an ideal site to study the relationship between reef community evolution and the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. A detailed study on the evolution of reef-building communities in the Carboniferous will help to understand the scale, mode and influence of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, and to uncover the adaptation mechanism underlying the reef development.