Flat latitudinal diversity gradient caused by the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Haijun Song; Shan Huang; Enhao Jia; Xu Dai; Paul B. Wignall; Alexander M. Dunhill

doi:10.1073/pnas.1918953117

Flat latitudinal diversity gradient caused by the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Haijun Song^*, Shan Huang, Enhao Jia, Xu Dai, Paul B. Wignall, Alexander M. Dunhill

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is recognized as one of the most pervasive, global patterns of present-day biodiversity. However, the controlling mechanisms have proved difficult to identify because many potential drivers covary in space. The geological record presents a unique opportunity for understanding the mechanisms which drive the LDG by providing a direct window to deep-time biogeographic dynamics. Here we used a comprehensive database containing 52,318 occurrences of marine fossils to show that the shape of the LDG changed greatly during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction from showing a significant tropical peak to a flattened LDG. The flat LDG lasted for the entire Early Triassic (∼5 My) before reverting to a modern-like shape in the Middle Triassic. The environmental extremes that prevailed globally, especially the dramatic warming, likely induced selective extinction in low latitudes and accumulation of diversity in high latitudes through origination and poleward migration, which combined together account for the flat LDG of the Early Triassic.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	17578-17583
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	117
Issue number	30
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1918953117
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the contributors to the Paleobiology Database and Philip Mannion and two anonymous reviewers for constructive reviews. This is Paleobiology Database publication number 372. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41821001), the State Key R&D project of China (2016YFA0601100), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), a Marie Curie Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015-701652), the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P0137224/1), and the German Science Foundation (DFG, HU 2748/1-1).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Biodiversity
Biogeography
End-permian mass extinction
Global warming
Ocean anoxia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1073/pnas.1918953117

Cite this

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title = "Flat latitudinal diversity gradient caused by the Permian–Triassic mass extinction",

abstract = "The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is recognized as one of the most pervasive, global patterns of present-day biodiversity. However, the controlling mechanisms have proved difficult to identify because many potential drivers covary in space. The geological record presents a unique opportunity for understanding the mechanisms which drive the LDG by providing a direct window to deep-time biogeographic dynamics. Here we used a comprehensive database containing 52,318 occurrences of marine fossils to show that the shape of the LDG changed greatly during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction from showing a significant tropical peak to a flattened LDG. The flat LDG lasted for the entire Early Triassic (∼5 My) before reverting to a modern-like shape in the Middle Triassic. The environmental extremes that prevailed globally, especially the dramatic warming, likely induced selective extinction in low latitudes and accumulation of diversity in high latitudes through origination and poleward migration, which combined together account for the flat LDG of the Early Triassic.",

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note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the contributors to the Paleobiology Database and Philip Mannion and two anonymous reviewers for constructive reviews. This is Paleobiology Database publication number 372. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41821001), the State Key R&D project of China (2016YFA0601100), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), a Marie Curie Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015-701652), the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P0137224/1), and the German Science Foundation (DFG, HU 2748/1-1). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.",

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N2 - The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is recognized as one of the most pervasive, global patterns of present-day biodiversity. However, the controlling mechanisms have proved difficult to identify because many potential drivers covary in space. The geological record presents a unique opportunity for understanding the mechanisms which drive the LDG by providing a direct window to deep-time biogeographic dynamics. Here we used a comprehensive database containing 52,318 occurrences of marine fossils to show that the shape of the LDG changed greatly during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction from showing a significant tropical peak to a flattened LDG. The flat LDG lasted for the entire Early Triassic (∼5 My) before reverting to a modern-like shape in the Middle Triassic. The environmental extremes that prevailed globally, especially the dramatic warming, likely induced selective extinction in low latitudes and accumulation of diversity in high latitudes through origination and poleward migration, which combined together account for the flat LDG of the Early Triassic.

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Flat latitudinal diversity gradient caused by the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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