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Which groups of plants dominated Triassic forests?
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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 Triassic Period, the composition of forests was structured by several distinct plant groups:
- Upper Story: The canopy of Triassic forests was dominated by conifers.1
- Middle Story: This layer consisted primarily of gymnosperms, including cycads, ginkgoes, and the extinct cycadeoids.1
- Understory: Ferns were the most prevalent plants in the understory.1
In the southern continents, the landscape was also characterized by the seed fern Dicroidium, which replaced the earlier Glossopteris flora and thrived in the warm, dry conditions of the period. While widespread aridity limited the extent of forests during the Early and Middle Triassic, the Late Triassic saw a shift toward more moist, monsoonal climates, which supported a broader distribution of these plant communities.1