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Science 21 December 1979:
Vol. 206. no. 4425, pp. 1400 - 1402
DOI: 10.1126/science.206.4425.1400
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Articles

Phanerozoic Land-Plant Diversity in North America

ANDREW H. KNOLL 1, KARL J. NIKLAS 2, and BRUCE H. TIFFNEY 3

1 Department of Geology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio 44074
2 Division of Biological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
3 Department of Biology, Yale University, News Haven, Connecticut 06520

A strong correlation exists between the outcrop area of nonmarine rocks deposited during a given geologic period and the observed vascular plant diversity for the same period; however, diversity residuals characteristic of certain periods may have underlying biological causes. Within-flora diversity changes through time indicate that stepwise increases in community species packing have accompanied major tracheophyte evolutionary innovations. Total and within-flora data suggest that the track of North American land-plant diversity has been similar in nature, but not in timing, to that inferred for marine invertebrates.

Submitted on June 19, 1979
Revised on August 27, 1979


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