| Title: |
Low atmospheric CO 2 levels before the rise of forested ecosystems |
| Authors: |
Dahl, Tais W.; Harding, Magnus A. R.; Brugger, Julia; Feulner, Georg; Norrman, Kion; Lomax, Barry H.; Junium, Christopher K. |
| Source: |
Dahl , T W , Harding , M A R , Brugger , J , Feulner , G , Norrman , K , Lomax , B H & Junium , C K 2022 , ' Low atmospheric CO 2 levels before the rise of forested ecosystems ' , Nature Communications , vol. 13 , 7616 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35085-9 |
| Publication Year: |
2022 |
| Subject Terms: |
envir; geo |
| Description: |
The emergence of forests on Earth (~385 million years ago, Ma) 1 has been linked to an order-of-magnitude decline in atmospheric CO 2 levels and global climatic cooling by altering continental weathering processes, but observational constraints on atmospheric CO 2 before the rise of forests carry large, often unbound, uncertainties. Here, we calibrate a mechanistic model for gas exchange in modern lycophytes and constrain atmospheric CO 2 levels 410–380 Ma from related fossilized plants with bound uncertainties of approximately ±100 ppm (1 sd). We find that the atmosphere contained ~525–715 ppm CO 2 before continents were afforested, and that Earth was partially glaciated according to a palaeoclimate model. A process-driven biogeochemical model (COPSE) shows the appearance of trees with deep roots did not dramatically enhance atmospheric CO 2 removal. Rather, shallow-rooted vascular ecosystems could have simultaneously caused abrupt atmospheric oxygenation and climatic cooling long before the rise of forests, although earlier CO 2 levels are still unknown. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/340096531/s41467_022_35085_9.pdf; https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/low-atmospheric-co2-levels-before-the-rise-of-forested-ecosystems(74a8e351-e836-495e-8652-4787ffcb1b94).html |
| Availability: |
https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/340096531/s41467_022_35085_9.pdf; https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/low-atmospheric-co2-levels-before-the-rise-of-forested-ecosystems(74a8e351-e836-495e-8652-4787ffcb1b94).html |
| Rights: |
undefined |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.47D0617C |
| Database: |
BASE |