Reconstructing fossil-rich East Asian amber forests using inclusions of seed plants

琥珀是化石植物树脂，是古植物学的宝贵来源，因为它高保真地保存了植物化石，包括微小而脆弱的植物结构，这些结构在化石记录中是罕见的。近年来，缅甸(白垩纪中期)、抚顺(中国，始新世早期)、漳浦(中国，中中新世)等东亚琥珀矿床的包裹体数量急剧增加，但主要集中在节肢动物、其他无脊椎动物甚至脊椎动物包裹体。这些东亚琥珀中的化石种子植物几乎还没有被研究过。因此，东亚琥珀的来源森林基本上是以节肢动物包裹体为基础进行解释的，导致了相互矛盾的结果。在这项拟议的研究中，我的目标是调查缅甸、抚顺和漳浦琥珀矿床中的种子植物包裹体，以重建它们的原始森林。虽然植物包裹体保存完好，但形态上的关键特征往往隐藏在包裹体内部，无法用标准光学显微镜观察到。因此，我的目标是应用最先进的X射线成像技术，包括微CT和同步辐射X射线断层扫描。这些新技术使研究植物包裹体的内部形态成为可能，这使得至少可以将包裹体分配到家族水平。然后，我将把发现的植物分类群与它们最接近的灭绝或活着的近亲进行比较，以分析它们的古生态需求。我将利用这些信息重建东亚琥珀植物区系的植被、栖息地类型和来源森林的结构。这对于对从这些琥珀中发现的大量无脊椎动物和脊椎动物包裹体进行深刻的古生态评估是相关的。此外，我的研究有可能为理解东亚陆地古生态系统及其在时间和空间上的演化，以及特定植物谱系的古生物地理格局和进化史提供重要的关键。

Amber, fossilized plant resin, is a valuable source for palaeobotany, since it preserves plant fossils in high fidelity, including minute and fragile botanical structures which are otherwise rare in the fossil record. In the past years, East Asian amber deposits of Myanmar (mid-Cretaceous), Fushun (China, early Eocene) and Zhangpu (China, middle Miocene) revealed a tremendously increasing number of inclusions; however, research interests were mainly focused on arthropod, other invertebrate and even vertebrate inclusions. Fossil seed plants from these East Asian ambers are still virtually unstudied. Thus, source forests of East Asian ambers have been basically interpreted on the basis of arthropod inclusions, leading to contradictory results. In the proposed study, I aim to investigate seed plant inclusions from Burmese, Fushun and Zhangpu amber deposits for reconstructing their source forests. Although plant inclusions are well preserved, morphological key features are often hidden inside of the inclusion and not accessible using standard light microscopy. Therefore, I aim to apply new state-of-the-art X-ray imaging techniques, including microCT and synchrotron X-ray tomography. These new techniques enable studying internal morphologies of plant inclusions which allows assigning the inclusion at least to family level. I will then compare the found plant taxa to their closest extinct or living relative in order to analyze their palaeoecological requirements. I will use this information to reconstruct the vegetation of the East Asian amber floras, the habitat types and the structure of their source forests. This is relevant for a profound palaeoecological evaluation of the plethora of invertebrates and vertebrate inclusions recovered from these ambers. Furthermore, my study has the potential to provide significant keys for understanding terrestrial palaeoecosystems of East Asia and their evolution in time and space, as well as palaeobiogeographic patterns and the evolutionary history of specific plant lineages.