Terrestrial plants have transformed Earth's surface environments by altering water, energy, and biogeochemical cycles. Studying vegetation-climate interaction in deep time has necessarily relied on modern-plant analogs to represent paleo-ecosystems—as methods for reconstructing paleo- and, in particular, extinct-plant function were lacking. This approach is potentially compromised given that plant physiology has evolved through time, and some paleo-plants have no clear modern analog. Advancements in the quantitative reconstruction of whole-plant function provide new opportunities to replace modern-plant analogs and capture age-specific vegetation-climate interactions. Here, we review recent investigations of paleo-plant performance through the integration of fossil and geologic data with process-based ecosystem- to Earth system–scale models to explore how early vascular plants responded to and influenced climate. First, we present an argument for characterizing extinct plants in terms of ecological and evolutionary theory to provide a framework for advancing reconstructed vegetation-climate interactions in deep time. We discuss the novel mechanistic understanding provided by applying these approaches to plants of the late Paleozoic ever-wet tropics and at higher latitudes. Finally, we discuss preliminary applications to paleo-plants in a state-of-the-art Earth system model to highlight the potential implications of different plant functional strategies on our understanding of vegetation-climate interactions in deep time. ▪For hundreds of millions of years, plants have been a keystone in maintaining the status of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and climate.▪Extinct plants have functioned differently across time, limiting our understanding of how processes on Earth interact to produce climate.▪New methods, reviewed here, allow quantitative reconstruction of extinct-plant function based on the fossil record.▪Integrating extinct plants into ecosystem and climate models will expand our understanding of vegetation's role in past environmental change.

中文翻译：

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一种理解植物如何在深时改变地球环境的系统方法


陆生植物通过改变水、能源和生物地球化学循环改变了地球的表面环境。研究深时植被-气候的相互作用必然依赖于现代植物的类似物来表示古生态系统——因为缺乏重建古植物功能的方法，特别是重建已灭绝植物的功能。鉴于植物生理学随着时间的推移而进化，并且一些古植物没有明确的现代类似物，这种方法可能会受到损害。全植物功能定量重建的进步为取代现代植物类似物和捕获特定年龄的植被-气候相互作用提供了新的机会。在这里，我们通过将化石和地质数据与基于过程的生态系统到地球系统尺度模型相结合，回顾了最近对古植物性能的研究，以探索早期维管植物如何响应和影响气候。首先，我们提出了一个论点，从生态学和进化论的角度来描述已灭绝的植物，为推进深层重建的植被-气候相互作用提供了一个框架。我们讨论了将这些方法应用于晚古生代常湿热带和高纬度植物所提供的新机制理解。最后，我们讨论了在最先进的地球系统模型中对古植物的初步应用，以强调不同植物功能策略对我们理解深时植被-气候相互作用的潜在影响。▪数亿年来，植物一直是维持地球大气、海洋和气候状况的基石。▪灭绝植物的功能随着时间的推移而不同，这限制了我们对地球上过程如何相互作用以产生气候的理解。▪本文回顾的新方法允许根据化石记录定量重建已灭绝植物的功能。▪将已灭绝的植物整合到生态系统和气候模型中将扩大我们对植被在过去环境变化中的作用的理解。