Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/P013724/1
Ecosystem resilience and recovery from the Permo-Triassic crisis
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor P Wignall, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor MJ Benton, University of Bristol, Earth Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr J Hilton, University of Birmingham, Sch of Geography, Earth & Env Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr RJ Newton, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr AM Dunhill, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr B Lomax, University of Nottingham, Sch of Biosciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr W Fraser, Oxford Brookes University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sci
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr DJ Hill, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Palaeobiology
- Mass extinctions
- Climate & Climate Change
- Mass extinctions
- Palaeoenvironments
- Mass extinctions
- Palaeoenvironments
- Mass extinctions
- Volcanic Processes
- Abstract:
- It is hard not to have a fascination for the Permo-Triassic mass extinction (PTME). No other catastrophe in history of the world was so far-reaching and all encompassing. Even the death of the dinosaurs does not look quite as bad when compared with the PTME because, even though these terrestrial giants were wiped out, lots of other things survived, especially at the bottom of the ocean. In contrast, no environment, no habitat and no location was safe at the end of the Permian. Death struck in the deepest oceans, in the shallowest waters, and from the equator to the pole. Understanding what happened during the PTME, ~250 myrs ago, and how life recovered is the subject of a new NERC-funded research programme. Called Eco-PT, it is a major collaboration between British and Chinese scientists. The finger of blame for the PTME points to a giant volcanic region in Siberia. These erupted at the time of the extinction and belched out huge volumes of damaging gases. This included carbon dioxide which is thought to have caused dramatic greenhouse warming and lead to dangerously hot, oxygen-poor and acidified oceans - all bad consequences for marine life. What isn't understood is why conditions got so bad - there have been other giant volcanic eruptions that have not done anywhere near so much harm. The project will look at the extinctions on land and in the sea to examine when and how these two very different ecosystems collapsed. Did everything die at once or did the extinction on land precede that in the oceans or vice versa? China has the best rocks in the world for such a study and intense collecting of fossils will help answer these questions. Precise controls on the age will be achieved using new, ultra-high precision age dating involving uranium decay in volcanic minerals. It is also possible that there was feedback between the terrestrial and marine extinctions, for example plant dieback on land may have changed nutrient input into the oceans and so altered plankton populations that normal food webs were no longer sustainable. The potential causes will be investigated using the latest techniques. Thus, a new technique, involving analysis of molecules in fossil pollen will be used to asses the role of ozone loss. Other volcanic gases, such a sulphur dioxide may also have been involved in the terrestrial extinction and this role can now be investigated by examining trace concentration of sulphur compounds and their isotopes preserved in terrestrial rocks that formed at this time in China. State-of-the-art modelling approaches will also be used to better understand regional and global climate changes during and after the mass extinction and to reconstruct the style of ecosystem recovery. Climate modelling of different scenarios will enable these conditions to be better understand and will help us understand the nature of super-greenhouse worlds with greater clarity. The prolonged recovery from the PTME is also one of the most fascinating intervals of the world's history. Some groups bounce back quickly whereas others remained in the doldrums for millions of years. The recovery style varied greatly; some groups show an increase in diversity but not their disparity whereas others show an increase of both. What this meant for ecosystem stability and its resilience (ability to cope with further stresses) will be investigated using ecosystem modelling approaches that look at interaction between species and the interplay between form and function in terrestrial animals.
- Period of Award:
- 1 Jan 2017 - 31 Jan 2022
- Value:
- £1,157,682 Lead Split Award
Authorised funds only
- NERC Reference:
- NE/P013724/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Directed - International
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- BETR
This grant award has a total value of £1,157,682
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Exception - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £39,186 | £1,400 | £437,299 | £107,580 | £147,573 | £374,238 | £40,458 | £9,949 |
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