Techniques for the study of plant/arthropod interactions in the fossil record

Abstract

It has been estimated by biologists studying modern terrestrial ecosystems that the number of plant/arthropod interactions exceeds the combined total of the species involved. Many of these interactions have been considered co-evolutionary and yet few palaeoecologists have been concerned with this topic. Data on such interactions are not only essential for an understanding of ecosystem dynamics (e.g. energy flow in a terrestrial community) but also may untangle possible co-evolutionary processes affecting the plants and arthropods through geological time. There are however, various types of data which need to be considered in the fossil context. These include: Comparisons with modern day arthropods and plants and a consideration of their interactions; arthropod morphology, particularly when considering extinct groups; gut contents of arthropods and a study of diet; coprolites (faecal pellets)—their shape, size and contents; plant anatomy and morphology; damaged plants (including nibbled leaves, bored seeds and wood etc.); pollination mechanisms and dispersal vectors. We present examples of each type of interaction from the fossil record (Devonian-Tertiary) and emphasise the importance of such data in terrestrial palaeoecological studies.