UV-B-induced forest sterility: Implications of ozone shield failure in Earth's largest extinction.

ABSTRACT: Although Siberian Trap volcanism is considered a primary driver of the largest extinction in Earth history, the end-Permian crisis, the relationship between these events remains unclear. However, malformations in fossilized gymnosperm pollen from the extinction interval suggest biological stress coinciding with pulsed forest decline. These grains are hypothesized to have been caused by enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) irradiation from volcanism-induced ozone shield deterioration. We tested this proposed mechanism by observing the effects of inferred end-Permian UV-B regimes on pollen development and reproductive success in living conifers. We find that pollen malformation frequencies increase fivefold under high UV-B intensities. Surprisingly, all trees survived but were sterilized under enha

SUBMITTER: Benca JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5810612 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature