The End-Permian Biotic Crisis: A Botanical Perspective of the Recovery

The Mesozoic biosphere had a rough start as the end-Permian biotic crisis (~250 mya) profoundly altered terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. In widely separated areas, irrespective of floral province and climatic zone, the abundance of pollen types reflects a strong decline of woody gymnospermous vegetation. The paleobotanical record indicates that the dieback of dominant gymnosperms was a global event that dramatically affected terrestrial ecosystems. Several typical Late Permian taxa, such as the Glossopteridales of Gondwanaland, the Cordaites of Angaraland, as well as a variety of Euramerican, Cathaysian and Angaran conifers, became extinct. A period of lycopsid and seedfern domination followed. In Europe, ecosystem recovery to precrisis levels of structure and function took 4 to 5 million years. Based on recent literature, the floral sequence of events following the end-Permian biotic crisis will be described using palynological and paleobotanical records.