Ep. 560 - Revisiting Earth's First Forests
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Devonian Period was for plants what the Cambrian Period was for animals. Land plants really started to experiment with new forms of growth some 380 million years ago which led to the establishment of the first forests on Earth. We revisit a conversation with Dr. Chris Berry who was part of the team that recently discovered the oldest fossil evidence of forests. As you are going to hear, these forests were very different from the ones we know and love today.This episode was produced in part by Matthew, April, Dana, Lilith, Sanza, Eva, Yellowroot, Wisewren, Nadia, Heidi, Blake, Josh, Laure, R.J., Carly, Lucia, Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants. |
| 0:04.0 | And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible. |
| 0:09.0 | One of the best ways to help keep In Defensive Plants up and running is to become a patron over at patreon.com slash In Defensive Plants. |
| 0:16.0 | In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate podcasts. |
| 0:21.0 | It explores a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage |
| 0:25.2 | to growing native plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much |
| 0:30.2 | more. It's a heck of a lot of fun. We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you. |
| 0:34.5 | So come on and join the Patreon over at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? Today, I thought we would revisit a conversation I had back in 2020 about Earth's first |
| 0:59.5 | forests. This conversation takes us all the way back to the Devonian period, which the |
| 1:03.8 | Devonian was for plants, what the Cambrian period was for animals. It was an explosion of new |
| 1:09.1 | niche space that early land plants were readily taking |
| 1:11.9 | advantage of. But these forests were nothing like what we experienced today. So that's why we're |
| 1:16.7 | revisiting the conversation with paleobotanist Dr. Chris Berry, who was part of the team that discovered |
| 1:21.3 | the oldest fossil evidence of forests. This was really fun and insightful, and it transports us |
| 1:26.2 | back to a time that couldn't be more alien to life as we know it. |
| 1:29.3 | So let's just jump right into it. |
| 1:30.7 | Without further ado, let's revisit my conversation with Dr. Chris Barry. |
| 1:34.2 | I hope you enjoy. All right, Dr. Chris Barry, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. |
| 1:52.4 | How about we start off with a little bit about who you are and what it is you do? |
| 1:56.5 | Well, I'm Chris Berry. I'm from Cardiff University where I teach paleontology and sedimentary geology. |
| 2:03.3 | I research the origin of forests and the earliest forests in the Devonian period. |
| 2:08.0 | Excellent, and I'm really excited to talk to you about this today. But what brought you to where you are today? |
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