Data from: Impact of the Late Triassic mass extinction on functional diversity and composition of marine ecosystems

Mass extinctions have profoundly influenced the history of life, not only
through the death of species but also through changes in ecosystem
function and structure. Importantly, these events allow us the opportunity
to study ecological dynamics under levels of environmental stress for
which there are no recent analogues. Here, we examine the impact and
selectivity of the Late Triassic mass extinction event on the functional
diversity and functional composition of the global marine ecosystem, and
test whether post-extinction communities in the Early Jurassic represent a
regime shift away from pre-extinction communities in the Late Triassic.
Our analyses show that, despite severe taxonomic losses, there is no
unequivocal loss of global functional diversity associated with the
extinction. Even though no functional groups were lost, the extinction
event was, however, highly selective against some modes of life, in
particular sessile suspension feeders. Although taxa with heavily
calcified skeletons suffered higher extinction than other taxa, lightly
calcified taxa also appear to have been selected against. The extinction
appears to have invigorated the already ongoing faunal turnover associated
with the Mesozoic Marine Revolution. The ecological effects of the Late
Triassic mass extinction were preferentially felt in the tropical
latitudes, especially amongst reefs, and it took until the Middle Jurassic
for reef ecosystems to fully recover to pre-extinction levels.

大灭绝事件深刻影响了生命演化史，其作用不仅体现于物种消亡，更在于生态系统功能与结构的重塑。尤为重要的是，这类事件为我们提供了研究极端环境压力下生态动力学的独特契机——此类压力在近代并无可类比的参照。本研究探讨晚三叠世大灭绝事件（Late Triassic Mass Extinction Event）对全球海洋生态系统功能多样性（functional diversity）与功能组成（functional composition）的影响及选择性，并验证早侏罗世（Early Jurassic）灭绝后群落是否较晚三叠世灭绝前群落发生了生态格局转变。分析结果显示，尽管分类单元损失惨重，但与该灭绝事件相关的全球功能多样性并未出现明确下降。虽然未发生功能群的消失，但该灭绝事件对特定生活模式具有显著选择性——尤其是固着滤食者。骨骼高度钙化的类群灭绝率高于其他类群，而轻度钙化类群似乎也受到了选择性影响。此外，该灭绝事件似乎加速了中生代海洋革命（Mesozoic Marine Revolution）相关的、本已持续进行的动物群更替。晚三叠世大灭绝的生态效应在热带纬度地区尤为显著，尤其是在珊瑚礁生态系统中，而礁生态系统直至中侏罗世（Middle Jurassic）才完全恢复至灭绝前水平。