How did Triassic plant life change from the Early Triassic to the Late Triassic?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Triassic paleogeography — Triassic Period Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins during the early Triassic Period. Included in the paleogeographic reconstruction are the locations of the interval's subduction zones.

During the Early and Middle Triassic, widespread aridity on northern continents restricted the development of plant life, limiting the extent of forests.1

In contrast, the Late Triassic saw a significant shift toward a more moist, monsoonal climate. This change is evidenced by the increased presence of water-loving plants, including lycopods, horsetails, and ferns. Throughout the period, the dominant vegetation consisted of ferns in the understory, gymnosperms (such as cycads and ginkgoes) in the middle story, and conifers in the upper story.1

In southern continents, the cool-adapted Permian flora was replaced by a flora dominated by the seed fern Dicroidium, which favored the warmer, drier conditions that followed the Permian-Triassic boundary. Additionally, the Late Triassic marked the first appearance of coccolithophores in the oceans and a period of rapid diversification for dinoflagellates.1