Canopy Flow Analysis Reveals the Advantage of Size in the Oldest Communities of Multicellular Eukaryotes
نویسندگان
چکیده
VIDEO ABSTRACT At Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, Canada, rangeomorph "fronds" dominate the earliest (579-565 million years ago) fossil communities of large (0.1 to 2 m height) multicellular benthic eukaryotes. They lived in low-flow environments, fueled by uptake [1-3] of dissolved reactants (osmotrophy). However, prokaryotes are effective osmotrophs, and the advantage of taller eukaryotic osmotrophs in this deep-water community context has not been addressed. We reconstructed flow-velocity profiles and vertical mixing using canopy flow models appropriate to the densities of the observed communities. Further modeling of processes at organismal surfaces documents increasing uptake with height in the community as a function of thinning of the diffusive boundary layer with increased velocity. The velocity profile, produced by canopy flow in the community, generates this advantage of upward growth. Alternative models of upward growth advantage based on redox/resource gradients fail, given the efficiency of vertical mixing. In benthic communities of osmotrophs of sufficient density, access to flow in low-flow settings provides an advantage to taller architecture, providing a selectional driver for communities of tall eukaryotes in contexts where phototropism cannot contribute to upward growth. These Ediacaran deep-sea fossils were preserved during the increasing oxygenation prior to the Cambrian radiation of animals and likely represent an important phase in the ecological and evolutionary transition to more complex eukaryotic forms.
منابع مشابه
The effect of ecophysiography on the quantitative characteristics of DBH, height, basal area, crown diameter and canopy area of trees in mountain forest communities (Case study: Oak-hornbeam community in Arasbaran forest)
Ecophysiography is the geography of the earth and the relationship between physiography and the ecosystem. Ecophysiography is a basis for planning processes to study the characteristics of terrestrial systems concerning the interactions between terrestrial physiography and living organisms. Due to the current state of ecosystems and the increase in natural disasters for ecosystem sustainability...
متن کاملWater use pattern and canopy processes of cashew trees during a drying period in West Africagoo
Water flux in a young, 4-year old, cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) plantation was studied over a dry season, from November 2001 to March 2002, in the forest-savannah transition zone of Ghana, West Africa. The temperature-difference method was used over this five-month period to quantify the diurnal and day-to-day whole-tree sap flow (Qt) and hence the canopy scale transpiration (Ec). M...
متن کاملRelationships between Environmental Factors and Plant Communities in Enclosure Rangelands (Case study: Gonbad, Hamadan)
Exclusion and not using of rangeland in the long term affects the composition and homogeneity of vegetation and consequently leads to the improvement of plants status. In this study, the characteristics and structural changes of the rangeland of Gonbad, Hamadan province, Iran, in 2014 (after 20 years of enclosure) were evaluated using Braun-Blanquet plot, Phytosociology and multivariate analysi...
متن کاملEvaluating the Quality of Life Dimensions in Marginal Urban Communities to Take Advantage of Development Stimulus Projects, Case Study: Dizaj Town of Hamedan
متن کامل
Anatomical and Morphological Properties of Trichomes in Four Iranian Native Salvia Species under Cultivated Conditions
The morphological specifications play a substantial role in classification and breeding programs of various plant taxa. In the current study, some macro- and micro-morphological features of Salvia nemorosa, Salvia syriaca, Salvia frigida and Salvia virgata (three accessions), were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and image analysis program. The completely randomized design (CRD) ...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 24 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2014