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The asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous wiped out much of life on Earth. And while we know how this story unfolds, a team of scientists are now adding a new chapter. The one defined by the flowers. In fact, scientists say the seminal space rock that bathed Earth in Dino’s death is precisely what made our home planet home to the lush, flowering rainforests we know today for the first time. .
The team of scientists, working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, set out to decipher how tropical rainforests change after drastic ecological disruption. The Chicxulub impactor, which wiped out 45% of the plants in what is now Colombia, and shrouded the world in darkness, was a perfect opportunity for a glimpse.
Don Davis / NASA
To study the changes, scientists examined fossils of tropical plants from sites in Central and South America; including over 50,000 pollen fossils and 6,000 leaf fossils, both before and after impact. In comparison? The team discovered that the dino-killer turned the sparse, evergreen-rich rainforests into the denser, taller rainforests of today; the same ones that are teeming with vibrant, technicolor bromeliads and dangling orchids.
Scientists, who described their findings in a study recently published in the journal Science (which comes via BBC News), say the fossil record implies that the forest cover of the American tropics has evolved from relatively open to closed and layered. In turn, they say that this led to an increase in vertical stratification. And, therefore, a greater diversity of forms of plant growth.
The three central theories of scientists explaining this change concern both the impact of the asteroid and the absence of dinosaurs. Scientists say the first theory is that dinosaurs kept their forests “open” by feeding and moving through them. The second: Ashes that fall from the impact have enriched tropical soils, giving an advantage to faster growing flowering plants. And finally, that the preferential extinction of confidential species has allowed flowering plants to dominate.
Kirt edblom
“Our study follows a simple question: how are tropical rainforests changing?” Monica Carvalho, botanist and lead author of the study, said in a press release from STRI. “The lesson learned here is that under rapid disturbances – geologically speaking – tropical ecosystems don’t just bounce back; they are replaced and the process takes a long time. “
Featured Image: Kirt Edblom
The post The Dinosaur Killer Asteroid May Have Formed Earth’s Rainforests first appeared on Nerdist.
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