Plant Communities in the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene
The Late Cretaceous saw the establishment of largely modern vegetation. Flowering plants (angiosperms) became ecologically as well as taxonomically dominant across many ecosystems around the world. At the end of the Cretaceous, terrestrial and marine communities underwent a dramatic taxonomic turnover and ecological devastation termed the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction. Plant communities were apparently also impacted by this biotic crisis, although our understanding of their fate across this critical time period is not well understood. My research focuses on a suite of questions related to plants across the K-Pg boundary:
In collaboration with other paleobotanists (Caroline Strömberg's lab), vertebrate paleontologists (Greg Wilson Mantilla's lab), geologists, and invertebrate paleontologists, I am using plant macrofossils to reconstruct plant ecological strategies, vegetation types, and environments during this critical time.
My work is inherently place-based, and much of my fieldwork has been conducted in northeastern Montana on lands that are the traditional territory of the Fort Belknap Assiniboine & Gros Ventre Tribes and the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes. I am grateful to the land keepers in this area, both past and present, for their stewardship of the fossils I study.
- How did plant communities in northeastern Montana change (both in taxonomic composition and ecology) across the K-Pg boundary?
- How variable was Late Cretaceous climate in the lead up to the mass extinction?
- What did early Paleocene plant communities look like in the aftermath of the mass extinction, and how long did this recovery interval last?
- Is taxonomic turnover in plants correlated with the observed faunal crisis of the K-Pg mass extinction?
- What impact did suspected vegetation loss at the boundary have on terrestrial vertebrate communities?
In collaboration with other paleobotanists (Caroline Strömberg's lab), vertebrate paleontologists (Greg Wilson Mantilla's lab), geologists, and invertebrate paleontologists, I am using plant macrofossils to reconstruct plant ecological strategies, vegetation types, and environments during this critical time.
My work is inherently place-based, and much of my fieldwork has been conducted in northeastern Montana on lands that are the traditional territory of the Fort Belknap Assiniboine & Gros Ventre Tribes and the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes. I am grateful to the land keepers in this area, both past and present, for their stewardship of the fossils I study.
Ecological and Phylogenetic Implications of Palm Phytolith Morphology
In collaboration with other paleobotanists in the Strömberg lab I am investigating palm phytolith (plant biosilica) morphology. Phytoliths are microscopic silica bodies found in almost all plant groups, and often are identifiable to specific taxonomic groups or organs. We are investigating whether variations in phytolith morphology within the palm (Arecaceae) family are attributable to phylogenetic and/or environmental factors. This project is led by graduate and undergraduate students in the lab, with work presented by lab undergraduates at several national conferences (e.g., Botany 2019).
Geology and Stratigraphy in Northeastern Montana
In addition to studying the macroflora of the Cretaceous-Paleogene interval in northeastern Montana, I am investigating the stratigraphic and sedimentologic relationships of my plant fossil sites. I am interested in disentangling the age relationships of floras from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene and exploring whether changes in depositional environment overprint plant fossil assemblage composition.
Past Research Projects
Idaho NodosaurAs my senior honors thesis in the Earth Sciences Department at Dartmouth College I worked with advisor Dr. Jason Moore to prepare, identify, and describe a novel dinosaur specimen from the Late Cretaceous Wayan Formation in Idaho. I identified this specimen as a novel species of nodosaur.
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Taphonomic and Ecological Patterns in an Oligocene Mammalian CommunityAs an undergraduate at Dartmouth College I worked with Dr. Jason Moore to study taphonomic overprinting of vertebrate communities in the Oligocene Brule Formation in South Dakota. Our work used multivariate regression analysis to understand whether assemblages from differing depositional environments were statistically different in their taxonomic composition or taphonomic signature (Wilson and Moore, PLOS One, 2016). The fieldwork for this project was done gratefully with the collaboration of, and consent from, the Oglala Lakota Nation side by side with members of the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation. The fossils collected for this study remain on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
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