A new study reveals how ancient plant ecosystems recovered from the End-Permian mass extinction, Earth’s most catastrophic extinction event. Researchers analyzed fossilized plants from Australia’s Sydney Basin, uncovering a slow and turbulent recovery shaped by extreme climate shifts.
The End-permian Extinction: A Global Catastrophe
Around 252 million years ago, Earth experienced its most severe extinction event—the End-Permian mass extinction—which wiped out over 80% of marine species and vast numbers of terrestrial organisms. While scientists have long studied its effects on ocean life, the response of land-based ecosystems has been less understood.
A research team from University College Cork (UCC), the University of Connecticut, and the Natural History Museum of Vienna examined fossilized plants and rock formations from Australia to reconstruct the multi-million-year recovery process.
Their study, published in GSA Bulletin, highlights how different plant species responded to extreme climate swings and what this means for the resilience of modern ecosystems.
How Ancient Forests Collapsed And Recovered
The fossil evidence suggests that conifers—similar to modern pines—were among the first plants to recolonize the devastated landscape after the extinction event.
However, their dominance was short-lived. A period of intense global warming, known as the Late Smithian Thermal Maximum, caused temperatures to spike, leading to another collapse of vegetation.
During this time, tough, shrubby plants resembling modern club mosses took over, adapting to the scorching conditions. This heatwave lasted around 700,000 years, making it nearly impossible for large trees to thrive.
It wasn’t until a cooling phase, known as the Smithian-Spathian Event, that a new wave of plant life emerged. This period saw the rise of seed ferns, a group of unusual plants that would eventually dominate Earth’s landscapes for millions of years. These ferns helped stabilize ecosystems, paving the way for the lush forests of the Mesozoic era, which later supported the age of the dinosaurs.
Extinction Changes Ecosystems Forever
The study reveals that forests did eventually recover, yet the composition of these ecosystems was drastically different from what existed before the extinction. According to Dr. Chris Mays, lead researcher at University College Cork, this challenges the idea that nature simply “bounces back” after disasters.
“The term ‘recovery’ can be misleading, forests recover eventually, but extinction is forever,” noted th expert.
What Prehistoric Plant Fossils Tell Us About Today’s Climate Crisis?
Earth is currently undergoing rapid climate change, driven by human activity, with temperature increases resembling those seen during the End-Permian period.
However, the study suggests that once these systems are severely disrupted, recovery takes millions of years. The loss of plant diversity and stability could lead to long-term ecological shifts.
Marcos Amores, the study’s lead author, emphasizes the importance of conservation efforts: “This research highlights how crucial plants are, not just as the base of land food chains, but also as natural carbon sinks that stabilize Earth’s climate. The disruption of these systems can have impacts lasting hundreds of thousands of years.”