Using fossils to better understand periods of global warming in Earth’s past
Cynthia Looy, Professor
Integrative Biology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Plants are adapted to the physical conditions in their environments, including temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and light level. In cooler and drier habitats, leaves tend to be smaller with condensed venation and toothed margins. While under warmer and wetter conditions, leaves tend to be larger, have ‘drip tips’, and entire margins. Atmospheric CO2 concentration and light regulate leaf size, stomatal patterns, and cell shape in developing leaves. These characteristics are preserved in the paleobotanical fossil record and can be used to infer local conditions at the time the plants were alive. We use this kind of information to better understand Earth’s history, the evolution of ecosystems, and predict the effects of global warming. To assess changes in plant community composition and distribution during periods of long term and rapid global warming we are studying a global warming in the early Paleogene.
During the early Paleogene (~58-50 million years ago), the Earth experienced a long-term trend of increasing temperatures punctuated by several abrupt and short-term rapid increases in temperature known as ‘hyperthermal’ events. During these events, the earth’s CO2 and global temperatures increased rapidly which resulted a decreased temperature gradient between the equator and the poles. The widespread sub-tropical climate allowed warm-loving vegetation to migrate outside the tropics, creating a widespread band of thermophilic flora around the equator.
In this study, we will be measuring cuticle characteristics for a light level project and the Paleogene warming project. The light level project looks at leaf cuticles of oak and sycamore plants grown under very high and low light levels. This light experiment will help us to better understand the relationship between light level, cell size, stomate size, stomate density, and cell undulation. For the Paleogene warming project we will be looking at fossil cuticle from the Eocene epoch (56-33.9 million years ago) collected from the southeastern US. We are especially interested in this time period as it can help gain insight into change in plant communities through time during a time of rapid climate change.
Role: We are looking for 2 students who will assist with obtaining measurements from images of extant and fossil leaf cuticle. The measurements will be conducted using ImageJ software and recorded in Excel. These data will be analyzed and used in a literature study. Weekly tasks will include:
(1) Literature discussion (~1 hour)
(2) Performing measurements in ImageJ (~ 4 hours)
(3) Recording, saving, and uploading data to shared folder (~1 hour)
Day to day supervisor: Jenn Wagner, Graduate Student
Qualifications: Qualifications: We are looking for two students who can devote 6 hours a week to the above described projects. Attention to detail and precise when making measurements using computer software. A student who is interested in studying the literature related to the research tasks.
Benefits: this research provides the opportunity for students to gain experience working with living and fossil plant material. The student will gain experience working with image measuring software, data collection, management and analysis.
If you would like more information, please email Jenn Wagner at
jenn_wagner@berkeley.edu.
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: http://www.looylab.org/labfolk.html
Related website: https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/jenn-wagner/