Review

Author(s): Howard S. Neufeld

Review by: Howard S. Neufeld
Source: Castanea, Vol. 75, No. 3 (September 2010), pp. 402-403
Published by: Allen Press on behalf of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40983095
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 Book Review
Beerling,David. 2007. The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History.Oxford
UniversityPress,Oxford,UnitedKingdom.304 p. $30.00. ISBN 0192806025.

Thislittlegemofa bookis a mustreadforanyone The evolutionofleaves is theconcernofChapter

interested in the evolutionof plantsand how they 2. Using energybalance theory,Beerlingargues
have affected the earth'sbiologicaland geological thatthe earliestplantshad no leaves because CO2
history. The ecologicalrolethatplantshave played levels,and thustemperatures, werehigh,and such
in thebroad evolutionary play (sensuHutchinson) structurescould not have adequately dissipated
is clearlylaid out for the reader,and no prior enoughheat throughtranspirational coolingto be
experiencein eitherpaleoecologyor geology is functionallyviable. When CO2 concentrations
requiredto understandthe main themesof this dropped,such restrictions were lifted,and leaves
book. appeared.The evolutionofleaves provedfunction-
Each chapterconveniently startsoffwitha short ally advantageous,because it providedlarge sur-
synopsis,whichputseach chapterintoperspective. face areas withwhichto exchange gases. This in
The writingstyleis purposively casual, and not,as turnled to fastergrowthratesand morecompeti-
FrancisCrickoncewrote,in the"tediousstyle"ofthe tionthateventuallyled to an increasein boththe
typicalscientific paper. Beerling'sprose is exem- size and complexity ofplants.
plary for its clarity and style, making this a In a uniquejuxtapositionofthenewand theold,
thoroughlyenjoyable read. The incorporationof Beerlinguses developmentsin modernmolecular
numerous biographical vignettes, interspersed biologyto proposean actual mechanismby which
throughoutthe book, gives the sciencea human leaves first arose.He suggeststhatdown-regulation
perspectivethat is oftenlacking in othersimilar of the knottedhomeobox (KNOX) genes was a
works. As Beerling states, his goal here was firststep towardsproducingleaf lamina. When
"... highlightingthe brilliant achievements of the thisgene is activeit suppresseslateraloutgrowths
generationsof scientificpioneersand adventurerswho on stems. Somehow, when CO2 concentrations
have shaped scientificthought." He has definitely droppedbelow a certainpoint,these genes were
achievedthatgoal. turnedoff,allowing new stem outgrowths to be
The book chaptersfall into fourmajor groups: producedand which,afterfurther modifications,
Chapters4 and 5 showhow fossilplantscan yield developedinto modernleaves. Scientistsare cur-
new information about past climatesand selection rentlystudyingwhat additional steps may have
pressures;Chapters2, 3, 7 and 8 documentthe been required,such as coordinatingthe develop-
powerof plants themselvesto change the global mentoftheupperand lowerleafsurfaces.
environment; Chapters6 and 8 focuson specific Beerlingthenswitchesgears fromCO2 to O2 in
vegetationtypesand theirenvironmental influenc- Chapter3. Herehe showshow plantsand natural
es, while the last group (Chapters5, 6 and 7) mineralweathering overgeologictimescalesaltered
provideswarningsabout currentimpacts of hu- the past O2 content of the atmosphere.The
mans on theirenvironment based on past history. productionof O2 by photosynthesisis mostly
Chapter1 outlinesthebroadthemesofthisbook: balanced bythedecomposition oforganicmaterial
that "plants exquisitelyrecordpreviouslyhidden fea- whichreturns CO2 back to the atmosphere.But in
turesof Earth history,and second, that plants are a the geologic past, a small fractionof organic
geological force of nature...." But there is another materialwas immobilized,leading to small incre-
theme:that whilepast may be prologue,modern mentalincreasesin O2. In addition,naturalsulfur
scientifictechniques, suchas molecularbiologyand cyclingcontributed to higheratmospheric O2. These
isotopicanalysis,can be used to testideas about smallincrements in O2 overlongtimeperiodsledto
plantevolutionand earlyEarthhistory; thatin fact, largeincreasesin atmosphericO2, peakingat 35%
one can derivetestablehypothesesabout events around300 myain theCarboniferous period.Itwas
thathappenedmillionsofyearsago. Thisthemeis during this briefspike that the world saw the
carriedthroughout each ofthechapters. evolutionof gigantism,such as 40 m tall relatives

402

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2010 BOOK REVIEW
ofclubmosses,15 m tallhorsetails,and dragonflies
withthreefootwingspans.
ButprehistoricO2 levelsdid not remainhighfor
long,and by 200 mya, had droppedto as low as
15%, possiblycausingmass extinctions of animals
requiringhighamountsofO2. Beerlingdetailshow
isotopicanalysesofcarbonfractionation by plants
have been usedto verifypasttrendsin atmospheric
the evolutionof lignin,whichis
O2. Surprisingly,
extremely resistantto microbialand fungaldegra-
dation,mighthave been the initialcause of the
spikein atmosphericO2, since it took millionsof
yearsbeforemicrobesfiguredout how to decom-
posethismolecule.Beerlingcleverly refers
to thisas
I
"global indigestion"
The Permianextinction, the greatestone of all
time, occupies the bulk of Chapter 4. Beerling
makesa strongcase thatvolcanicemissions(e.g.,
theSiberianTraps)may have been responsiblefor
thismass extinctionevent,ratherthan an impact
froman extra-terrestrial object. These huge, ex-
tendederuptionsvirtuallyeliminatedthe strato-
sphericozone layer,which would have allowed
massive amounts of UV-radiationto reach the
earth'ssurface,causingwidespreaddeath.Support-
ing thistheoryis the factthatmutationsfoundin
fossilsporesresemblethose today in areas where
theozone layerhas been depleted.
No book on theevolutionary
historyoftheearth
would be complete withoutdinosaurs, and in
Chapter5, Beerlingfinallybringsthem into the
picture.Butinsteadoffocusingon thegiantbeasts
he turnshisattentionto thequestionof
themselves,
whatcaused temperatures to riseat the end of the
Triassic,just beforethe great diversification and
dominance of the dinosaurs. He argues that a
massiveeruption,centeredon the CentralAtlantic
MagmaticProvince,releasedenoughSO2 and CO2
toraisetemperatures worldwide. Buta curiousspike
in the 12C isotope of rocksat that time raised
questionsamong scientists. Volcanoes,it turnsout,
do notgreatlyaffecttheisotopiccompositionofthe
atmosphere. Buta releaseofstoredmethane,much
ofit frozenin deep ocean sediments, could.And if
thismethanewas rapidlyoxidizedto CO2 it would
- HowardS. Neufeld, ofBiology,
Department AppalachianStateUniversity,
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
403
accountforthe spikein 12Cas well as the further
globalwarmingthatoccurred. Today,thereleaseof
frozen methane due to anthropogenicglobal
warmingis still a cause for concern:dramatic
videoson theinternet showmethanebeingreleased
fromdecomposingsedimentsin thawinglakes in
Siberia,wherevast quantitiesare stored.
In Chapter6, Beerlinggivesa livelyrecountingof
several polar expeditionsthat foundevidenceof
foreststhatonce grewin the Arctic.How did these
treessurviveso farto the northand how did they
cope withthestressofsix monthsofdarkness?Even
moreperplexing,whyare so many of thesefossil
trees deciduous? One early argumentwas that
deciduousnessevolved to allow these trees (e.g.,
Sequoia and Taxodium)to reducerespiratory costs
the dark which would be
during prolonged period,
especiallycriticalbecause it was also warm. But
subsequentgrowthchamberexperiments have shed
doubton thistheory.It nowappearsthatevergreen
and deciduous species may solve their annual
carbon budgets in very different, yet equally
adaptiveways.
The remainderof the book discussessuch past
global warmingcaused by gases otherthan CO2
such as methane, plus ozone and water vapor
(Chapter 7) and the role that plants may have
played in alteringtheseconcentrations. Chapter8
addressesthe evolutionofgrasslandsavannas and
theriseofC4 plants.AlthoughCO2 starvationmay
have been the ultimatereasonforthe evolutionof
C4 plants,increasesin droughtand firefrequency
may have been responsiblefortheirrecentspread
and domination. The last chapter (Chapter 9)
servesas a recapitulationof sorts,and bringsthe
entirebook to a satisfying
conclusion.
The book is well produced,with few errors,
althoughadditionaleditingwas needed on page
79, where5 errorswerecountedin one paragraph.
But aside fromthat, this is an attractiveand
stimulatingbook, certain to enlighten readers
aboutplantevolutionand therolethatplantshave
played in alteringthe geological historyof the
Earth.It shouldbe on everybotanist'sbookshelf.
Boone,NorthCarolina28608.