A dwarf conifer tree from the Triassic of Antarctica: the first fossil evidence of suppressed growth in a favourable climate?

Background and aims: The complexity of fossil forest ecosystems is difficult to reconstruct due to the fragmentary nature of the fossil record. However, detailed morpho-anatomical studies of well-preserved individual fossils can provide key information on tree growth and ecology, including in biomes with no modern analogue, such as the lush forests that developed in the polar regions during past greenhouse climatic episodes.

Methods: We describe an unusual-looking stem from Middle Triassic (~240 Ma) deposits of Antarctica with over 100 very narrow growth rings and conspicuous persistent vascular traces through the wood. Sections of the specimen were prepared using the cellulose acetate peel technique to determine its systematic affinities and analyse its growth.

Key results: The new fossil shows similarities to the form genus Woodworthia and with conifer stems from the Triassic of Antarctica, and is assigned to the conifers. Vascular traces are interpreted as those of small branches retained on the trunk. Growth-ring analyses reveal one of the slowest growth rates reported in the fossil record, with an average of 0.2 mm per season. While the tree was growing within the Triassic polar circle, sedimentological data and growth-ring information from other fossil trees, including from the same locality, support the presence of favourable conditions in the region.

Conclusions: The specimen is interpreted as a dwarf conifer tree that grew under a generally favourable regional climate but whose growth was suppressed due to stressful local site conditions. This is the first time that a tree with suppressed growth is identified as such in the fossil record, providing new insights on the structure of polar forests under greenhouse climates and, more generally, on the complexity of tree communities in deep time.