PRR Project

Summary

The plant ecosystems are critical to global climate balance because of its crucial role in absorbing atmospheric carbon. However, modern climate change has a major impact on plant biodiversity. Although its causes are still debated, there is broad consensus among scientists that modern climate change is leading to a hotter and drier climate. The Iberian Peninsula, in particular, is experiencing increasing aridity as a result of climate change. In this scenario, and considering the climate and biodiversity of the past, we can project a preview of the future of plant biodiversity in the Iberian Peninsula, studying rocks and fossils from a critical interval in geological time in which a similar climate change occurred. Previous research carried out in the Buçaco and Douro coal basins revealed exquisitely preserved beds of plant fossils from the Kasimovian-Gzhelian (Pennsylvanian, Carboniferous) period, when the aforementioned climate changes occurred. The presence, decline, absence or disappearance of different groups of plants in these basins, as well as the emergence of new flora adapted to hot and dry climates, provide valuable information about how ecosystems adapt to such conditions. These discoveries can help us understand and anticipate the potential changes in plant biodiversity that could shape the future of the Iberian Peninsula. These Portuguese basins contain exceptional palaeobotanical sites located in the Central Iberian Zone. These sites are exposed in separate pull-apart basins formed between active faults. Its fossils are Gzhelian (early Stephanian C – early Autunian) in age (304-299 Ma) and record plant growth in intramountainous environments, which, in the modern world, are highly sensitive to climate change. These two basins have recently been the subject of detailed and systematic paleontological studies and are sites of very well preserved Carboniferous fossils. These floras constitute an important and valuable record of the climatic conditions that existed in the Iberian Peninsula during the Gzhelian, in the aftermath of the climate changes that dominated the Kasimovian-Gzhelian time interval. New palaeobotanical data recently obtained allowed us to assess floral biodiversity and understand how resident vegetation changed over this time, in response to the climatic, environmental and geographic changes that then occurred in central Pangaea. The role of the researcher to be hired will be to conduct and coordinate the continuation of the palaeobotanical study of the Buçaco and Douro coal basins, with the extension of this study to the Santa Susana coal basin (Ossa-Morena Zone). He/She will also have to coordinate the work to recognize the flora of the Spanish coal basins, correlating them with the Portuguese basins. With the development of this study, we intend to obtain an understanding of the climate changes that occurred in the late Carboniferous period of the Iberian Peninsula, extrapolating the data from this major palaeoclimatic change, and consequent changes in palaeoflora, for the current and future times, with a particular focus on the detailed study of floristic extinctions and recoveries. In this framework, the researcher to be hired must have a Ph.D. and a CV that fits the aforementioned objectives and be able to coordinate work with researchers from Portuguese and Spanish universities and institutes. The hiring of a researcher to join the UTAD Pole of the Geosciences Center of the University of Coimbra will allow the creation of a research group in the area of paleobotany, with the aim of characterizing past climate changes and applying this knowledge to understanding current changes. The aim is, therefore, to obtain tools that allow better and more effective action in mitigation and impact reduction measures and in strengthening resilience and adaptation capacity to risks related to climate and natural disasters (SDG 13 of the 2030 Agenda ). The new researcher will be asked to promote excellent research, creating synergies with other researchers globally. It is also required to develop doctoral projects, focused on understanding the adaptation of ecosystems to natural climate changes at different moments in Earth´s history. In his duties, this Principal Researcher must also participate, design and coordinate research and development programs, monitor research work carried out by fellows and other research assistants, participate in their training and monitor the work carried out. He/She will also have to participate in and supervise the institution´s training programs and be available to teach specific curricular units and modules in different study cycles.