Even during one of Earth’s largest mass extinction events, where heat waves kill of a majority of Earth’s species, at least one oasis of survival existed.
The findings suggest that there may have been pockets of protection throughout Earth — challenging the notion that the heat affected life on the planet uniformly, according to a paper in Science Advances.
Living Through "The Great Dying"
About 250 million years ago, a series of massive volcanic eruptions warmed Earth. This period, sometimes referred to as “The Great Dying”, was aptly named. It killed off about 95 percent of marine species and 75 percent of land-locked lifeforms, although some species appeared clever enough to find ways to beat the heat.
The researchers found an abundance of plant fossils dating back to that time in China’s Turpan-Hami Basin. The implication? Even though the region was relatively close to some volcanic activity, it somehow shielded a wide variety of plants.
Read More: The Permian Extinction: Life on Earth Nearly Disappeared During the ‘Great Dying’
Pockets of Protection
"This suggests that local climate and geographic factors can create surprising pockets of resilience, offering hope for conservation efforts in the face of global environmental change," Liu Feng, a paleontology researcher with the Chinese Academy of Science and an author of the paper, said in a press release.
The fossils the team found pointed to a widely diverse plant community that survived the initial destructive events. Those fossils indicate both resilience that allowed them to bounce back from the volcanic events, as well as the evolutionary ability they needed to adapt afterward.
The team’s findings suggest that some land areas were shielded from the worst effects of extinction, creating pockets of resilience that played a crucial role in the rebound of life on Earth. The researchers cited the region’s stable, semi-humid climate as essential to the area’s ability to continuously support life. The scientists analyzed layers of soil in the area and determined that it received fairly consistent rainfall during the mass extinction period.
Local Vs. Global
The findings challenge one prevailing theory about the Permian mass extinction event. That theory claims that volcanic eruptions in Siberia triggered wildfires, acid rain, and toxic gases, which indiscriminately killed off much of the life on Earth. The opposing view argues that these events differed around the globe, due to differences in atmosphere, latitude, and perhaps geography.
The new findings tilt the scale toward the “variable effects” side. Evidence includes fossil records of fern fields and coniferous forests that existed 160,000 years before the extinction and persisted 160,000 years after it was over. The fossils include intact tree trunks and fern stems, which lend credence to the notion that this was local vegetation, not transported by wind or other elements.
Life Finds A Way
The scientists did detect SOME extinction in the area during that time period, but at 21 percent it was far lower than at much of the rest of the planet. Because the plant oasis persisted, it presented a welcome place for animals to thrive after the event ended. The team found some animal fossils dating to about 75,000 years after the extinction.
The discovery of this “life oasis” shows incredible resiliency and suggests that, with the right conditions, plants and animals can persist following major disasters.
Read More: Ancient Frogs Survived Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction Event by Not Adapting
Article Sources
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Science Advances. Refugium amidst ruins: unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
