Fungal event and palynological record of ecological crisis and recovery across the Permian-Triassic boundary

Abstract

The end of the Permian Period was marked by the most severe mass extinction in the geologic record. Detailed quantitative study of pollen and spores from shallow-marine deposits spanning the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) boundary in Israel reveals a sequence of palynological-ecological stages reflecting a major crisis among land plants. The disappearance of the gymnosperm-dominated palynoflora of the Late Permian Lueckisporites virkkiae Zone is recorded at a claystone horizon containing almost exclusively abundant fungal remains and carbonized terrestrial plant debris. This ‘‘fungal spike’’ is followed by a zone dominated by marine acritarchs and a succession showing ecological recovery with abundantlycopodsporesandeventualreappearanceofbisaccategymnospermpolleninthe EarlyTriassic.ThelatestPermianproliferationoffungiisrecognizableworldwideandcan be correlated with other paleontological and geochemical markers of a global ecological disaster.