Biophysical constraints on the origin of leaves inferred from the fossil record.

The molecular tool kit for producing flat-bladed photosynthetic structures evolved in marine and terrestrial plants during the middle Paleozoic, but it took a further 20 million years before leaves suddenly spread throughout land floras. This delay has long been difficult to explain, given the apparent advantage of leaves for photosynthetic primary production. Theory and experiments predict that exceptionally high atmospheric CO2 levels in the middle Paleozoic delayed the origin of leaves by restricting stomatal development. This would have limited evaporative cooling, leading to lethal overheating of leaves absorbing large quantities of solar energy. Here we test the central prediction of this argument with a morphometric analysis of 300 plant fossils from major European collections. We show a 25-fold enlargement of leaf blades in two phylogenetically independent clades as atmospheric CO2 levels fell during the late Paleozoic. Furthermore, preliminary data suggest that the first abrupt increase in leaf size was accompanied by an 8-fold rise in stomatal density. These evolutionary patterns support the relaxation of biophysical constraints on leaf area predicted by theory and point to a significant role for CO2 in plant evolution.

Assessing the potential for the stomatal characters of extant and fossil Ginkgo leaves to signal atmospheric CO2 change.

The stomatal density and index of fossil Ginkgo leaves (Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous) have been investigated to test whether these plant fossils provide evidence for CO(2)-rich atmosphere in the Mesozoic. We first assessed five sources of natural variation in the stomatal density and index of extant Gingko biloba leaves: (1) timing of leaf maturation, (2) young vs. fully developed leaves, (3) short shoots vs. long shoots, (4) position in the canopy, and (5) male vs. female trees. Our analysis indicated that some significant differences in leaf stomatal density and index were evident arising from these considerations. However, this variability was considerably less than the difference in leaf stomatal density and index between modern and fossil samples, with the stomatal index of four species of Mesozoic Ginkgo (G. coriacea, G. huttoni, G. yimaensis, and G. obrutschewii) 60-40% lower than the modern values recorded in this study for extant G. biloba. Calculated as stomatal ratios (the stomatal index of the fossil leaves relative to the modern value), the values generally tracked the CO(2) variations predicted by a long-term carbon cycle model confirming the utility of this plant group to provide a reasonable measure of ancient atmospheric CO(2) change.

Evolution of leaf-form in land plants linked to atmospheric CO2 decline in the Late Palaeozoic era.

The widespread appearance of megaphyll leaves, with their branched veins and planate form, did not occur until the close of the Devonian period at about 360 Myr ago. This happened about 40 Myr after simple leafless vascular plants first colonized the land in the Late Silurian/Early Devonian, but the reason for the slow emergence of this common feature of present-day plants is presently unresolved. Here we show, in a series of quantitative analyses using fossil leaf characters and biophysical principles, that the delay was causally linked with a 90% drop in atmospheric pCO2 during the Late Palaeozoic era. In contrast to simulations for a typical Early Devonian land plant, possessing few stomata on leafless stems, those for a planate leaf with the same stomatal characteristics indicate that it would have suffered lethal overheating, because of greater interception of solar energy and low transpiration. When planate leaves first appeared in the Late Devonian and subsequently diversified in the Carboniferous period, they possessed substantially higher stomatal densities. This observation is consistent with the effects of the pCO2 on stomatal development and suggests that the evolution of planate leaves could only have occurred after an increase in stomatal density, allowing higher transpiration rates that were sufficient to maintain cool and viable leaf temperatures.