Palaeoenvironment of Upper Franconia, southeastern Germany: Reconstruction of vegetation, landscape, and climate during deposition of the Löwenstein-Formation (Norian, Late Triassic, Keuper)

• Applicant: Aowei Xie, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 545102267

Although plant fossils have been known in the Late Triassic (Keuper) of Upper Franconia for almost two centuries, and several studies dealt recently with compression/impression fossils from the Rhaetian of this region, very little work has been done in the last decades on the wealth of fossil wood from Late Triassic of this region, except few taxonomic studies on selected specimens. In this research project, we propose to carry out extensive studies on the fossil wood and log remains from Norian deposits curated in the Rossmann collection at the University of Bayreuth, which provide an opportunity to understand the vegetation composition of gymnosperm forests of Upper Franconia during the Norian. The main goal of this study is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment of Upper Franconia during deposition of the Norian Löwenstein Formation, especially, to understand the composition of the plant fossil communities and ecological interactions between plants, insects, and fungi, as well as the influence of palaeoclimate on these. To do this, we want to test four hypotheses proposed in this project, including the topic of the vegetation composition of fossil wood flora, leaf retention time of tree, growth condition of tree, and plant-fungi interactions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: China, Italy
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Klaus-Martin Moldenhauer; Professor Dieter Uhl, Ph.D.
• Cooperation Partners: Zikun Jiang, Ph.D.; Privatdozentin Dr. Evelyn Kustatscher; Professor Ning Tian, Ph.D.