Data obtained during the tenure of this project will be used by other colleagues interested in evolution of clades (angiosperms, gymnosperms and pteridophytas) as well as those interested in biogeography, climatology and evolution of flora in general.
Results are already being used by molecular biologists interested in using fossils to provide minimal ages of clades/taxa to calibrate their phylogenetic trees. They were also included in a thesis from an Argentinean student.
Based on the research done so far, my Argentinian colleagues and I are working to establish the area of study as a natural reserve.
impact statement issue
Paleobiogeographical data are fundamental for understanding past and modern distribution and pathway models while paleoclimate data is helping to discern requirements for the establishment of communities and ecosystems, such as temperature and rainfall. The data produced are important in understanding the systems formed by the plants and the environment during the K-T.
impact statement response
We have described several fossils assigned to numerous families, genera and species of angiosperms, gymnosperms and pteridophytes that were included in phylogenetic studies. Paleoclimate data has been analyzed and we are now in the process of comparing them with data obtained from other localities.
impact statement summary
This project includes a comprehensive taxonomic study of the vascular systems of several paleoflora that outcrop in Patagonia, Argentina. The major goal is to characterize the exceptionally diverse flora and to understand the origin and diversification of several extinct and modern taxa during the K-T boundary and the early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO, 52 million years ago) in Patagonia. The results will have a significant effect on understanding the floristic composition of these paleoflora, and the diversity and richness of Patagonian flora in general. The project also includes paleoclimatic and paleobiogeographical studies that in the future will be used for comparisons with paleoflora of the same age from North America and Australia.
Other private funding
CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas, Argentina)\nAgencia Nacional De Investigaciones (Argentina)
