Abstract Detail

Paleobotany

DeVore, Melanie [1], Pigg, Kathleen [2].

Conservation Paleobotany: recruiting the dead to serve the living.

Paleobotanists can contribute to conservation paleobiology in a special way and can introduce useful techniques and data applicable to conservation policy and science. Conservation paleobiology is a discipline which has developed largely within the invertebrate paleontology community. This relatively new research area is generating insights essential for evaluating the nature of biotic change and the vulnerability and resilience of modern ecological communities. A major goal of conservation paleobiology is to provide tools and perspectives for conservationists and policymakers to develop informed management plans. Paleobotanists have a unique perspective on climate and vegetation change and already have contributed data and context for researchers studying modern ecosystems. However, there are additional areas where paleobotanical data could be useful for the conservation community. The fossil plant record provides important data for niche modeling. The past responses of plants, including evolutionary and biogeographic history are documented in the fossil record. These data can be used to inform current models that predict plant community responses across time and space. These data may be useful especially to our current rapid rates of carbon emission and temperature elevation. In this presentation we would like to address how the concepts of rate, scale, and time from the fossil records of plants are essential for addressing the current climate and biodiversity crises and how we can better communicate them with practicing conservationists and the general public.

1 - Georgia College & State University, Biological And Environmental Sciences, Campus Box 081, Milledgeville, GA, 31061, United States
2 - Arizona State University, School Of Life Sciences, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287, United States

Keywords:
conservation
paleobotany
Historical Biogeography
vegetation change.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: PAL5, Paleobotany V: Neogene Paleobotany
Location: San Ignacio/Starr Pass
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Time: 2:15 PM
Number: PAL5004
Abstract ID:985
Candidate for Awards:None