2024/08/08 by Julian Rogger, Emily J. Judd, Benjamin Mills +3 · 2 voices · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
paper · doi:10.1126/science.adn3450
openalex publication_date 2024/08/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Periods of large igneous province (LIP) magmatism have shaped Earth's biological and climatic history, causing major climatic shifts and biological reorganizations. The vegetation response to LIP-induced perturbations may affect the efficiency of the carbon-climate regulation system and the post-LIP climate evolution. Using an eco-evolutionary vegetation model, we demonstrate here that the vegetation's climate adaptation capacity, through biological evolution and geographic dispersal, is a major determinant of the severity and longevity of LIP-induced hyperthermals and can promote the emergence of a new climatic steady state. Proxy-based temperature reconstructions of the Permian-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic, and Paleocene-Eocene hyperthermals match the modeled trajectories of bioclimatic disturbance and recovery. We conclude that biological vegetation dynamics shape the multimillion-year Earth system response to sudden carbon degassing and global warming episodes.