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Evidence of fire in the Middle Devonian remains globally scarce. Charcoalified mesofossils recovered from the Emsian–Eifelian Trout Valley and St. Froid Lake formations of Maine are direct evidence of wildfires proximal to the Acadian Orogen, formed as the Avalon terrane and the North American plate collided. These mesofossils include charred psilophytes, lycopsids, prototaxodioids, enigmatic taxa such as Spongiophyton, and coprolites. Here, fire combusted a senesced and partially decayed litter, and the intimately associated nematophytes, following a period of extended dryness. We envisage wildfires occurred during neap tide when exposure of the flora of this estuarine setting was prolonged. Herein we provide a reconstruction of this Middle Devonian landscape and its flora in which lightning generated by post-dry season storms ignited wildfires that propagated through an extensive psilophyte-dominated litter.
Ferns are a model plant group for comparing insect herbivory between modern and deep time assemblages. We assessed fern–arthropod interactions in a modern marsh to reveal the taphonomic, morphological, and ecological implications of insect herbivory on fossil plant assemblages. Six functional feeding groups—hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding, piercing and sucking, galling, and pathogens—are present in eight fern species. We identified a total of 23 distinct damage types (DTs) on ferns, comprising 16 insect-mediated DTs, two of which are newly described in this study, and seven pathogen DTs, including one new addition. Among these, we present six arthropod-induced DTs that were previously undocumented in ferns. Furthermore, we report five DTs with fossil analogs. External foliage feeding, consisting of hole feeding, margin feeding, and surface feeding functional feeding groups, is the principal factor for DT richness on ferns in this lowland locality. We found products of arthropods behavior on ferns, such as instar molts and dead bodies and the byproducts from reproductive processes, which are unlikely to preserve in the fossil record. The taphonomic implications of these arthropod behavioral products are inferred by considering the substances that attach these structures to leaf tissues, potentially enhancing their preservation potential in the fossil record. Relatively mesic conditions support ferns in the lowland locality, resulting in a greater richness of insect herbivory compared to ferns in cooler xeric habitats from a previously surveyed upland locality.
The Abu Dhabi coast, particularly the supratidal zone known as the “sabkha”, has been a subject of geological interest in recent decades due to its relevance as an analogue for subsurface petroleum reservoirs. The intertidal zone (Al Qantur lagoon) has received less attention, especially regarding neoichnological investigations. This study addresses this research gap by combining modern sedimentological and neoichnological observations. Three recurring depositional textures are identified in the sediments examined: the bioturbated peloidal grainstone, microbially laminated bindstone, and bioclastic rudstone. Observed burrows are generally of two types; those attributed to worms (Nereis polychaetes) and those to decapod crustaceans. Crustaceans homogenize sediments in distal areas by excavating dwelling structures, while worms act as mobile deposit feeders. The relatively low complexity and diversity of burrowing morphologies in Abu Dhabi are attributed to heightened environmental stressors, including salinity, heat, and subaerial exposure, as well as upward seepage of hypersaline continental brines. Porewater analyses indicate a stabilization of salinity within burrows, suggesting the infauna irrigate their burrows to cope with elevated salinity. Crustacean burrows enhance solute advection in the lower intertidal zone by increasing substrate permeability, facilitating the penetration of less-saline surface waters to greater depths. This study provides a unique neoichnological examination of Abu Dhabi's intertidal zones and assesses the impact of bioturbation on solute advection, an aspect often overlooked in contemporary carbonate sedimentological studies.
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