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AOBPreview originally published online on June 21, 2006
Annals of Botany 2006 98(3):495-502; doi:10.1093/aob/mcl125
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Early Angiosperm Ecology: Evidence from the Albian-Cenomanian of Europe

C. COIFFARD1, B. GOMEZ2,*, J. KVACEK3 and F. THEVENARD1

1 UCB Lyon 1 et UMR 5125, Paléobotanique, 7 rue Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, 2 UMR 6118 du CNRS Géosciences, Université Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, avenue du Général Leclerc, F-35042 Rennes, France and 3 National Museum, Prague, Václavské nám. 68, 115 79, Praha 1, Czech Republic

* For correspondence. E-mail bernard.gomez{at}univ-rennes1.fr

Received: 7 February 2006    Returned for revision: 3 March 2006    Accepted: 28 April 2006    Published electronically: 21 June 2006

Background and Aims The mid-Cretaceous is a period of sudden turnover from gymnosperm to angiosperm-dominated floras. The aim was to investigate the fossil plant ecology in order to follow the spread of angiosperm taxa.

Methods Floristic lists and localities from the latest Albian-Cenomanian of Europe are analysed with Wagner's Parsimony Method, a clustering method currently used in phylogeny (cladistics).

Key Results Wagner's Parsimony Method points out that (a) gymnosperms dominated brackish water-related environments while angiosperms dominated freshwater-related environments (e.g. swamps, floodplains, levees, channels), (b) angiosperms showed the highest diversity in stable, freshwater-related environments, (c) a single angiosperm, ‘Diospyroscretacea, is restricted to brackish water-related environments and (d) the families Lauraceae and Platanaceae were exclusive to disturbed, braided river environments, implying a opportunist strategy for early tree angiosperms.

Conclusions During the Mid-Cretaceous, European floras were characterized by (a) coastal gymnosperms, (b) highly diversified fluvial angiosperms and (c) the first European brackish water-related angiosperm.

Key words: Wagner's Parsimony Method, angiosperms, gymnosperms, conifers, ecology, environment, Mid-Cretaceous, Europe


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