Event

Title:  Unconventional approaches to the study of extinct plants: case studies in the evolution of water transport and silica biomineralization.”

Synopsis:The fossil record of plant life is a rich record of anatomical and morphological history. In this talk, I will discuss the application of mathematical and biological tools to the history of water transport in vascular plants and the origin(s) of silica biomineralization in land plants. These analyses suggest extensive participation in the coupled biogeochemical cycles of silicon and carbon for significantly longer than previously thought, and a complex history of plant physiology and biomechanics over the last four hundred million years.