Early tetrapod evolution and the progressive integration of Permo-Carboniferous terrestrial ecosystems

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5722143

Beerbower, J R ^[1]; Olson, E C ^[2]; Hotton, N III ^[3]

---

1. State Univ., Binghamton, NY (United States). Dept. of Geological Science
2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Biology
3. Smithsonian, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Paleobiology

Variation among Permo-Carboniferous tetrapod assemblages demonstrates major transformations in pathways and rates of energy and nutrient transfer, in integration of terrestrial ecosystems and in predominant ecologic modes. Early Carboniferous pathways were through plant detritus to aquatic and terrestrial detritivores and thence to arthropod and vertebrate meso-and macro-predators. Transfer rates (and efficiency) were low as was ecosystem integration; the principal ecologic mode was conservation. Late Carboniferous and Early Permian assemblages demonstrate an expansion in herbivory, primarily in utilization of low-fiber plant tissue by insects. But transfer rates, efficiency and integration were still limited because the larger portion of plant biomass, high-fiber tissues, still went into detrital pathways; high-fiber'' herbivores, i.e., tetrapods, were neither abundant or diverse, reflecting limited resources, intense predation and limited capabilities for processing fiber-rich food. The abundance and diversity of tetrapod herbivores in upper Permian assemblages suggests a considerable transfer of energy from high-fiber tissues through these animals to tetrapod predators and thus higher transfer rates and efficiencies. It also brought a shift in ecological mode toward acquisition and regulation and tightened ecosystem integration.

• OSTI ID: 5722143
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
PERMIAN PERIOD
ECOSYSTEMS
INSECTS
PALEONTOLOGY
PLANTS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
GEOLOGIC AGES
INVERTEBRATES
PALEOZOIC ERA
580000* - Geosciences
011000 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration