Sarah Brisson, a Ph.D. student at UConn, investigates how communities of organisms react during mass extinction events, focusing on brachiopod fossils from the Late Devonian period, approximately 370 million years ago. Her research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, examines the responses of ecosystems to environmental disturbances and highlights the concept of niche conservatism. During this extensive period, a shallow sea teemed with marine life, including brachiopods, while significant terrestrial changes such as the emergence of new plant species occurred.
Brisson identified around 20,000 brachiopod fossils, utilizing non-metric multi-dimensional scaling to analyze species groupings before and after the extinction event. Contrary to some expectations, her findings revealed that while some species went extinct, many persisted, retaining their ecological niches. This suggests a prevalence of niche conservatism, even as some species adapted to fill newly available spaces. The study also addresses ongoing debates about the underlying causes of the Late Devonian extinction, which may involve factors like global cooling and anoxia. Brisson’s work aims to inform our understanding of biodiversity and evolution, providing insights relevant to contemporary environmental challenges and species extinctions.
