The terrestrialization process: modelling complex interactions at the biosphere–geosphere interface–Introduction - The Terrestrialization Process: Modelling Complex Interactions at the Biosphere-Geosphere Interface - page 1

The terrestrialization process: modelling complex interactions at the
biosphere-geosphere interface-Introduction

M. VECOLI 1 *, B. MEYER-BERTHAUD 2 & G. CL ´ MENT 3
1 Universit´ Lille 1, FRE 3298 CNRS G´osyst`mes, Laboratoire de Pal´ontologie,
Cit´ Scientifique, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France
2 UMR AMAP (botAnique et bioinforMatique de l'Architecture des Plantes), c/o CIRAD,
TA-A51/PS2, Boulevard de la Lironde, 34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France
3 Mus´um national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), D´partement Histoire de la Terre,
UMR 5143 du CNRS, Pal´obiodiversit´ et Pal´oenvironnements, Case Postale 38, 57 rue Cuvier,
F-75231 Paris cedex 05, France
*Corresponding author (e-mail: [e-mail])

The invasion of the land by plants ('terrestrializa-
tion': Ordovician - Devonian) is one of the most sig-
nificant evolutionary events in the history of life on
Earth, and correlates in time with periods of major
palaeoenvironmental perturbations. The develop-
ment of a vegetation cover on the previously
barren land surfaces impacted the global biogeo-
chemical cycles and the geological processes of
erosion and sediment transport. The terrestrializa-
tion process includes the rise of major new groups
of animals such as arthropods and tetrapods. The
latter number some 24 000 living species, including
Homo sapiens. Mass extinction and radiation events
observed in the marine fossil record appear to corre-
late significantly with bioevents recorded in the
terrestrial realm, providing evidence of strong
terrestrial - marine teleconnections. The evolution
of early land plants also correlates with a dramatic
decline in CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere,
testifying to a first-order disturbance in the global
carbon cycle. The onset of the end-Devonian
glaciation after a protracted period of 'greenhouse'
climatic conditions also appears to be causally
linked

is mainly due, in our opinion, to a cultural barrier
separating vertebrate palaeontologists from a large
part of the geoscience community, including the
palaeobotanists and the invertebrate (micro-)
palaeontologists. The application of new analytical
techniques (e.g. analysis of biomarkers, applications
of sequence stratigraphic concepts, palaeohistology,
etc.) will radically change our views on many
aspects of the complex series of events which led
to the transition of life from water to land.
This topic contains a selection of papers reflect-
ing the contributions to a workshop that was held at
the Museum of Natural History of Paris (Mus ´ e
National d'Histoire Naturelle) in autumn 2007.
The workshop was sponsored by a special grant
(ECLIPSE Environnement et Climat du Pass ´ : his-
toire et Evolution) from the INSU (Institut National
des Sciences de l'Univers) department of CNRS
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). It
was the intention of the organizers of this workshop
(Marco Vecoli, Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud and Ga¨l
Cl´ment) to bring together specialists from different
fields of palaeontology and geoscience in order to
achieve a comprehensive perspective on the
various facets of terrestrialization. We think that it
is only by a multidisciplinary approach that we
can hope to gain new insights into the evolution of
life and its environments through geological time.
Accordingly, the present contributions cover
aspects on palynology, palaeobotany, organic geo-
chemistry, sedimentology, vertebrate palaeontol-
ogy, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography.
The first contribution by Janvier presents a his-
torical perspective on terrestrialization: he discusses
how the idea defended by some pre-socratic philo-
sophers that marine life preceded terrestrial life
gained authority as science progressed, and how
the concepts and methods embedded in the theory

to the invasion of the continents by

land plants.
The major ecological role of land plant evolution
on the previously barren landmasses and the con-
quest of the land by animal life have fascinated
palaeontologists and Earth scientists since the

birth of modern geoscience.
Although much progress has been recently made
in the understanding of the timing and mechanisms
of the terrestrialization process (e.g. Gensel &
Edwards 2001), a lot of unanswered questions
remain. There is also a lack of interdisciplinary
studies on the terrestrialization process, including
the analysis of early tetrapod evolution in the
context of the changing palaeoenvironment. This