Ep. 316 - How an Asteroid Changed Neotropical Rainforests

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Natural Sciences, Ecology, Nature, Plants, Botany, Science

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2021

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The asteroid that slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula some 66 million years ago marked the end of the Cretaceous and the reign of the dinosaurs. As famous as this extinction event is, we know considerably less about how such disturbances affected ecosystems like tropical rainforests. That is where people like Dr. Mónica Carvalho come in. Together with her colleagues, Dr. Carvalho is using vast amounts of fossil evidence from both before and after the asteroid impact to paint a picture of how the tropical rainforests of what is now Colombia were affected by this global catastrophe. From the rise of angiosperms to a complete overhaul of insect/plant interactions, you will be amazed at what these fossils can tell us. This episode was produced in part by Arek, Chellie, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Liam, Ario, Nathan, Laura, Cari, Laura, Kali, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Melody, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Cynthia, John, Ashley, Peter, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Grif, Jules, Joan, Les, Marabeth, Ali, Margaret, Southside Plants, Robert, Keiko, Bryce, Brittany, Helen, Amanda, Mikey, Rhiannon, Michelle, Kate, German, Joerg, Alejandra, Cathy, Jordan, Judy, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Dana, Chloe, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Vaibhav, Kendall, Christina, Brett, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Ethan, Kaylee, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Donica, Chris, Shamora, Alana, Laura, Alice, Sarah, Rachel, Joanna, Griff, Philip, Paul, Matthew, Clark, Bobby, Kate, Steven, Brittney, McMansion Hell, Joey, Catherine, Brandon, Hall, Vegreville Creek and Wetlands Fund, Kevin, Oliver, John, Johansson, Christina, Jared, Hannah, Katy Pye, Brandon, Gwen, Carly, Stephen, Botanical Tours, Moonwort Studios, Liba, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, doeg, Clifton, Stephanie, Benjamin, Eli, Rachael, Plant By Design, Philip, Brent, Ron, Tim, Homestead Brooklyn, Brodie, Kevin, Sophia, Mark, Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Caitlin, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, and Margie.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to the In Defense of Plants Podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com.
0:06.2	What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How's everyone doing this week?
0:10.2	I know I'm doing great because I'm super excited to bring you this episode today.
0:14.5	Now, many of you will be super familiar with the asteroid impact at the end of the Cretaceous period that led to the extinction of
0:21.2	the dinosaurs. It is probably the world's most famous and well-known extinction event.
0:26.2	And while the dinosaurs steal the show in terms of the dynamics of what was going on at that
0:30.5	time, the bigger question is how did the ecosystems respond? Specifically, for this podcast at least,
0:36.5	how did plants come out on the other side of that
0:38.6	giant asteroid impact? And that's where people like my guest today come in. Joining us is Dr. Monica
0:43.9	Carballo. She's a post-doctor of fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and her
0:48.6	interest focus on how tropical forests changed after the asteroid slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula.
0:55.3	To do this,
1:00.7	she looks at a lot of fossil evidence. It's really interesting work because it looks at sort of the shape and function of the leaves to understand what was going on with the climate at that time.
1:05.7	And you will be really amazed at how much resolution and information they can gather just by looking
1:10.8	at the shape and size of different leaf fossils.
1:13.6	Most importantly, they have fossils from both before and after the asteroid impact,
1:17.6	which allows them to answer some really important questions about how these tropical ecosystems have changed over time.
1:22.6	You know, we take for granted that these are old, biodiverse habitat types, but they haven't always been the same as they are today i don't want to steal any of her thunder so you know what let's just
1:31.5	jump right into it this is an incredible conversation so without further ado here's my conversation
1:35.7	with dr monica carballho, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm really excited to talk to you today. But first, let's tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what it is you do.
2:02.4	Well, thank you very much for having me. And, okay, as you said, my name is Monica Carvalu.
2:08.4	I'm a botanist and a paleobiologist. And I studied the evolution of tropical rainforests
	...

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