Editing Triassic (section)

== Flora ==
[[File:Meyers b15 s0826b.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Triassic flora as depicted in {{Lang|de|[[Meyers Konversations-Lexikon]]}} (1885–90)]]

=== Land plants ===
During the Early Triassic, [[Lycophyte|lycophytes]], particularly those of the order [[Isoetales]] (which contains living [[Quillwort|quillworts]]), rose to prominence due to the environmental instability following the Permian-Triassic extinction, with one particularly notable example being the genus ''[[Pleuromeia]],'' which grew in columnar like fashion, sometimes reaching a height of {{Convert|2|m|ft}}. The relevance of lycophytes declined from the Middle Triassic onwards, following the return of more stable environmental conditions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Looy |first1=Cindy V. |last2=van Konijnenburg-van Cittert |first2=Johanna H. A. |last3=Duijnstee |first3=Ivo A. P. |date=2021-03-02 |title=Proliferation of Isoëtalean Lycophytes During the Permo-Triassic Biotic Crises: A Proxy for the State of the Terrestrial Biosphere |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=9 |page=55 |doi=10.3389/feart.2021.615370 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021FrEaS...9...55L |issn=2296-6463}}</ref>

While having first appeared during the Permian, the extinct seed plant group [[Bennettitales]] first became a prominent element in global floras during the Late Triassic, a position they would hold for much of the Mesozoic.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Blomenkemper |first1=Patrick |last2=Bäumer |first2=Robert |last3=Backer |first3=Malte |last4=Abu Hamad |first4=Abdalla |last5=Wang |first5=Jun |last6=Kerp |first6=Hans |last7=Bomfleur |first7=Benjamin |date=2021 |title=Bennettitalean Leaves From the Permian of Equatorial Pangea—The Early Radiation of an Iconic Mesozoic Gymnosperm Group |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=9 |page=162 |bibcode=2021FrEaS...9..162B |doi=10.3389/feart.2021.652699 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In the Southern Hemisphere landmasses of Gondwana, the tree ''[[Dicroidium]]'', an extinct "[[seed fern]]" belong to the order [[Corystospermales]] was a dominant element in forest habitats across the region during the Middle-Late Triassic.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last1=Mays |first1=Chris |last2=McLoughlin |first2=Stephen |date=2020-02-25 |title=Caught between two mass extinctions: The rise and fall of Dicroidium |url=https://depositsmag.com/2020/02/25/caught-between-two-mass-extinctions-the-rise-and-fall-of-dicroidium/ |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Deposits Mag |language=en-US}}</ref> During the Late Triassic, the [[Ginkgoales]] (which today are represented by only a single species, ''[[Ginkgo biloba]]'') underwent considerable diversification.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhou |first=Zhi-Yan |date=March 2009 |title=An overview of fossil Ginkgoales |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1871174X0900002X |journal=Palaeoworld |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2009.01.001|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Conifers were abundant during the Triassic, and included the [[Voltziales]] (which contains various lineages, probably including those ancestral to modern conifers),<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Forte |first1=Giuseppa |last2=Kustatscher |first2=Evelyn |last3=Van Konijnenburg-van Cittert |first3=Johanna H. A. |date=2021-07-01 |title=Conifer Diversity in the Middle Triassic: New Data from the Fossillagerstätte Kühwiesenkopf/Monte Prà della Vacca (Pelsonian, Anisian) in the Dolomites (Northeastern Italy) |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/714280 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |language=en |volume=182 |issue=6 |pages=445–467 |doi=10.1086/714280 |issn=1058-5893|url-access=subscription }}</ref> as well as the extinct family [[Cheirolepidiaceae]], which first appeared in the Late Triassic, and would be prominent throughout most of the rest of the Mesozoic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Escapa |first1=Ignacio |last2=Leslie |first2=Andrew |date=February 2017 |title=A new Cheirolepidiaceae (Coniferales) from the Early Jurassic of Patagonia (Argentina): Reconciling the records of impression and permineralized fossils |url=https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.1600321 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=104 |issue=2 |pages=322–334 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1600321 |pmid=28213347 |issn=0002-9122|hdl=11336/40738 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==== Coal ====
[[File:Prospect Hill Monterey Pine Forest.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Immediately above the Permian–Triassic boundary the [[glossopteris]] flora was suddenly<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hosher |first1=WT Magaritz M Clark D |year=1987 |title=Events near the time of the Permian-Triassic boundary |journal=Mod. Geol. |volume=11 |pages=155–80 [173–74]}}</ref> largely displaced by an [[Australia]]-wide coniferous flora.]]

No known [[coal]] deposits date from the start of the Triassic Period. This is known as the [[Early Triassic]] "coal gap" and can be seen as part of the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]].<ref name="Retallack1996a">{{cite journal |last1=Retallack |first1=G. J. |last2=Veevers |first2=J. J. |last3=Morante |first3=R. |year=1996 |title=Global coal gap between Permian-Triassic extinction and Middle Triassic recovery of peat-forming plants |journal=Bulletin of the Geological Society of America |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=195–207 |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1996)108<0195:GCGBPT>2.3.CO;2 |bibcode=1996GSAB..108..195R}}</ref> Possible explanations for the coal gap include sharp drops in sea level at the time of the Permo-Triassic boundary;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Holser |first1=WT |last2=Schoenlaub |first2=H-P |last3=Klein |first3=P |last4=Attrep |first4=M |last5=Boeckelmann |first5=Klaus |display-authors=etal |year=1989 |title=A unique geochemical record at the Permian/Triassic boundary |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/337039a0 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=337 |issue=6202 |pages=39 [42] |bibcode=1989Natur.337...39H |doi=10.1038/337039a0 |s2cid=8035040 |access-date=24 November 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> acid rain from the Siberian Traps eruptions or from an impact event that overwhelmed acidic swamps; climate shift to a greenhouse climate that was too hot and dry for peat accumulation; evolution of fungi or herbivores that were more destructive of wetlands; the extinction of all plants adapted to peat swamps, with a hiatus of several million years before new plant species evolved that were adapted to peat swamps;<ref name="Retallack1996a"/> or soil anoxia as oxygen levels plummeted.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Retallack |first1=G.J. |last2=Krull |first2=E.S. |year=2006 |title=Carbon isotopic evidence for terminal-Permian methane outbursts and their role in extinctions of animals, plants, coral reefs, and peat swamps |journal=Geological Society of America Special Paper |volume=399 |page=249 |url=https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs.uoregon.edu/dist/d/3735/files/2013/07/ragnarok-15t4q8w.pdf |access-date=14 December 2020 |doi=10.1130/2006.2399(12) |isbn=978-0-8137-2399-0}}</ref>

=== Phytoplankton ===
Before the Permian extinction, [[Archaeplastida]] (red and green algae) had been the major marine [[phytoplankton]]s since about 659–645 million years ago,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/how-snowball-earth-gave-rise-to-complex-life |title=How snowball Earth gave rise to complex life – Cosmos Magazine |date=16 August 2017}}</ref> when they replaced marine planktonic [[cyanobacteria]], which first appeared about 800 million years ago, as the dominant phytoplankton in the oceans.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2015/december/bacteria-bloom-evolution.html |title=December: Phytoplankton {{!}} News {{!}} University of Bristol}}</ref> In the Triassic, [[Symbiogenesis#Secondary endosymbiosis|secondary endosymbiotic]] algae became the most important plankton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319952276 |title=The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals – ResearchGate}}</ref>

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