The impact of frequent wildfires during the Permian–Triassic transition: Floral change and terrestrial crisis in southwestern China

Abstract

Wildfires are considered to have played an important role in the land plants crisis during the Permian–Triassic (P–T) transition. However, the nature and impact of wildfires in the P–T terrestrial crisis remains unclear. Organic petrology data from a terrestrial sequence from southwestern China show that the inertinite content ranges from 21.3% to 80.9% (mean 44.5%), suggesting that wildfires were a frequent phenomenon in low-latitude tropical rainforests during the P–T transition. Abundant inertinite and Hg/TOC peaks in earliest Triassic strata support the co-existence of wildfires and volcanism at that time. Volcanic emissions were potentially lethal for plants and adjacent arc volcanism represents a possible source of ignition. Inertinite reflectance values are used to estimate wildfire combustion temperatures, which themselves are a function of wildfire type. Inertinite with reflectances higher than 4.5% have concentrations between 47% and 65% in the P–T transitional strata. Crown fires with high combustion temperatures were prevalent in wetland settings in the latest Permian. However, surface fires with lower combustion temperatures became dominant during the major terrestrial extinction phase as a result of the sparse, scrubby vegetation that dominated at that time. The subsequent spread of gymnosperms in the earliest Triassic resulted in the re-establishment of high-temperature crown fires. Wildfires associated with the onset of volcanism in the late Permian likely contributed to ecological disturbance in terrestrial settings, which occurred notably earlier than that seen in marine environments. Thus, enhanced wildfire activity destabilised wetlands and increased ecological stress in the late Permian. Wildfire activity on land potentially had devastating consequences for late Permian marine environments via a complex cascade of terrestrial denudation, runoff, and nutrient flux.