Imaging Calamites: Methodologies of Investigating Carboniferous Period Plant Hydraulics
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2023
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Bi-College (Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges). Department of Environmental Studies
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eng
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Dark Archive
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Abstract
Anthropogenic climate change poses an imminent threat to humanity, and understanding how plants contribute to global climate homeostasis is paramount to mediating the effects of such change both today and for the future. Paleobotanical study, although largely undiscussed in modern discourse surrounding climate change, can provide key insights into how plants have uniquely acted as an interface between the biosphere and planetary environments throughout history. Extinct plants’ anatomical structures supply a window into the evolution of plant-level morphological traits, and environmental and climatic feedbacks through time. Measuring the dimensions of water transport cells (xylem) in extinct plants allows for the study of past hydraulic strategies, and yields insights into the history of how plant communities have responded to past episodes of climate change. During this project, we delve into the methodologies behind investigating the critical role that plant physiology has played in different planetary feedbacks throughout time. A subperiod of the Carboniferous Period — the Pennsylvanian SubPeriod (323–299 million years ago) — is of particular interest because this time period featured low concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide that resulted from atypical rates of organic carbon sequestration. Using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we image the water transport cells of an extinct genus of Carboniferous land plant that was characteristic to swamp ecosystems and closely related to modern horsetails: Calamites. Comparing the anatomy of Calamites and other extinct taxa to modern structures can provide important context for the examination of how terrestrial plants adapt to environmental stress. These high-resolution images further illustrate the water transport morphology of Calamites at a cellular level, revealing details about its subcellular composition that can advance understanding of their ecological roles during a time of extreme climate change.