Lab Note #3: The fossils that started it all

Plant fossils provide a record of the terrestrial ecosystem for the past 400 million years, but we do not fully understand the biases that are introduced during their formation. This project will explore how different groups of plants (e.g. flowering plants, conifers, Ginkgo, and ferns) decay. Knowing decay rates of different groups will allow us to better understand the fossil record and reconstruct ancient ecosystems.