Biosphere

Contrasting interpretations of existing models of Sr and Pb isotope evolution can be eliminated with a model in which crustal material is recycled through the mantle. In this model the earth's crust and upper mantle (above approximately 500 km depth) are in a steady‐state system, and the volumes and bulk compositions of ocean, continent, and mantle have been nearly constant for at least the last 2.5 b.y. and probably for most of the earth's history. Sialic material is continuously eroded from continents into ocean basins and, as a consequence of this process, is isotopically homogenized. In continental‐margin orogenic belts and island arcs, the ocean basin, rise, and trench sediments are dragged into the mantle. Isotopic equilibration between sialic and simatic material takes place within the mantle, and the sialic material is returned to the continents or island arcs as juvenile‐appearing volcanics, thus completing the geochemical cycle. Most of the radioactive parent isotopes reside within the continental sial, whereas the mantle remains depleted and unable to sustain its observed isotope evolution. With this model it is possible to explain Pb isotope evidence of widespread ancient continents and common Pb evolution in a system which appears to have a very uniform U/Pb and Th/U ratio, even though most of the U and Th are highly enriched in the heterogeneous sialic crust. At the same time the model provides an explanation for Sr isotope evidence of continual addition of material to continents. Sr isotope evolution is dominated by the reservoir of Sr in the mantle; in contrast, Pb isotope evolution is dominated by isotopic mixing during erosion and sedimentation. The apparent differences in the evolutions of Sr and Pb isotopes are due to differing responses to various parts of the steady‐state cycle as a consequence of the differences in parent to daughter ratios in the sialic crust as compared with the upper mantle and in the degree of enrichment of parent and daughter products in the crust. Identical mathematical models may be used to describe the evolution of both isotope systems.

@article{doi101029rg006i002p00175,
    author = "Armstrong, R. L.",
    title = "A model for the evolution of strontium and lead isotopes in a dynamic Earth",
    year = "1968",
    journal = "Reviews of Geophysics",
    abstract = "Contrasting interpretations of existing models of Sr and Pb isotope evolution can be eliminated with a model in which crustal material is recycled through the mantle. In this model the earth's crust and upper mantle (above approximately 500 km depth) are in a steady‐state system, and the volumes and bulk compositions of ocean, continent, and mantle have been nearly constant for at least the last 2.5 b.y. and probably for most of the earth's history. Sialic material is continuously eroded from continents into ocean basins and, as a consequence of this process, is isotopically homogenized. In continental‐margin orogenic belts and island arcs, the ocean basin, rise, and trench sediments are dragged into the mantle. Isotopic equilibration between sialic and simatic material takes place within the mantle, and the sialic material is returned to the continents or island arcs as juvenile‐appearing volcanics, thus completing the geochemical cycle. Most of the radioactive parent isotopes reside within the continental sial, whereas the mantle remains depleted and unable to sustain its observed isotope evolution. With this model it is possible to explain Pb isotope evidence of widespread ancient continents and common Pb evolution in a system which appears to have a very uniform U/Pb and Th/U ratio, even though most of the U and Th are highly enriched in the heterogeneous sialic crust. At the same time the model provides an explanation for Sr isotope evidence of continual addition of material to continents. Sr isotope evolution is dominated by the reservoir of Sr in the mantle; in contrast, Pb isotope evolution is dominated by isotopic mixing during erosion and sedimentation. The apparent differences in the evolutions of Sr and Pb isotopes are due to differing responses to various parts of the steady‐state cycle as a consequence of the differences in parent to daughter ratios in the sialic crust as compared with the upper mantle and in the degree of enrichment of parent and daughter products in the crust. Identical mathematical models may be used to describe the evolution of both isotope systems.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/rg006i002p00175",
    doi = "10.1029/rg006i002p00175",
    openalex = "W2031561542"
}

@misc{cloud1983the1,
    author = "Cloud, P. E",
    title = "The biosphere",
    year = "1983",
    howpublished = "Scientific American, v. 249, no. 3, p. 176- 189",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Cloud, P. E., 1983, The biosphere: Scientific American, v. 249, no. 3, p. 176- 189.}"
}

The Description for this book, Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution, will be forthcoming.

@book{openalexw2026796374,
    author = "Schopf, J. William",
    title = "Earth's earliest biosphere: its origin and evolution",
    year = "1983",
    abstract = "The Description for this book, Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution, will be forthcoming.",
    openalex = "W2026796374"
}

@book{schopf1983earths2,
    author = "Schopf, J. W",
    title = "Earth's Earliest Biosphere",
    year = "1983",
    publisher = "Its Origin and Evolution: Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Schopf, J. W., 1983, Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution: Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.}"
}

@incollection{schopf1983evolution3,
    author = "Schopf, J. W. and Hayes, J. M. and Walter, M. R",
    editor = "Schopf, J. W.",
    title = "Evolution of Earth's Earliest Ecosystems: Recent Progress and Unsolved Problems",
    year = "1983",
    booktitle = "Earth's Earliest Biosphere",
    publisher = "Its Origin and Evolution: Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, p. 361-384",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Schopf, J. W., Hayes, J. M., and Walter, M. R., 1983, Evolution of Earth's Earliest Ecosystems: Recent Progress and Unsolved Problems, in Schopf, J. W., ed., Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution: Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, p. 361-384.}"
}

@article{towe1985earths,
    author = "Towe, Kenneth M.",
    title = "Earth's earliest biosphere — Its origin and evolution",
    year = "1985",
    journal = "Precambrian Research",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9268(85)90083-x",
    doi = "10.1016/0301-9268(85)90083-x",
    number = "2",
    openalex = "W2742259085",
    pages = "203-204",
    volume = "28"
}

@article{vidal1985earths,
    author = "Vidal, Gonzalo",
    title = "Earth's Earliest Biosphere",
    year = "1985",
    journal = "Lethaia",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.1985.tb00704.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1502-3931.1985.tb00704.x",
    number = "3",
    openalex = "W2148566212",
    pages = "271-272",
    volume = "18"
}

This book is a milestone in our understanding of the origin of life on earth and its subsequent early development. Its editor, J. E. Schopf, assembled an interdisciplinary team of 24 experts, the Precambrian Paleobiology Research Group (PPRG), who worked together for 14 months. Their official report, the volume reviewed here, has the following stated goals: first, to report the original research results obtained by the PPRG; second, to provide an in‐depth summary of relevant data; third, to provide an integrated assessment of current evidence on the early history of life; and fourth, to highlight unsolved problems. T h e book succeeds admirably in achieving these goals.

@article{hoering1986earths,
    author = "Hoering, Thomas C.",
    title = "Earth's Earliest Biosphere: Its Origin and Evolution",
    year = "1986",
    journal = "Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union",
    abstract = "This book is a milestone in our understanding of the origin of life on earth and its subsequent early development. Its editor, J. E. Schopf, assembled an interdisciplinary team of 24 experts, the Precambrian Paleobiology Research Group (PPRG), who worked together for 14 months. Their official report, the volume reviewed here, has the following stated goals: first, to report the original research results obtained by the PPRG; second, to provide an in‐depth summary of relevant data; third, to provide an integrated assessment of current evidence on the early history of life; and fourth, to highlight unsolved problems. T h e book succeeds admirably in achieving these goals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1029/eo067i003p00027-01",
    doi = "10.1029/eo067i003p00027-01",
    number = "3",
    openalex = "W2042820589",
    pages = "27-27",
    volume = "67"
}

It is argued that the problem of pattern and scale is the central problem in ecology, unifying population biology and ecosystems science, and marrying basic and applied ecology. Applied challenges, such as the prediction of the ecological causes and consequences of global climate change, require the interfacing of phenomena that occur on very different scales of space, time, and ecological organization. Furthermore, there is no single natural scale at which ecological phenomena should be studied; systems generally show characteristic variability on a range of spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The observer imposes a perceptual bias, a filter through which the system is viewed. This has fundamental evolutionary significance, since every organism is an "observer" of the environment, and life history adaptations such as dispersal and dormancy alter the perceptual scales of the species, and the observed variability. It likewise has fundamental significance for our own study of ecological systems, since the patterns that are unique to any range of scales will have unique causes and biological consequences. The key to prediction and understanding lies in the elucidation of mechanisms underlying observed patterns. Typically, these mechanisms operate at different scales than those on which the patterns are observed; in some cases, the patterns must be understood as emerging form the collective behaviors of large ensembles of smaller scale units. In other cases, the pattern is imposed by larger scale constraints. Examination of such phenomena requires the study of how pattern and variability change with the scale of description, and the development of laws for simplification, aggregation, and scaling. Examples are given from the marine and terrestrial literatures.

@article{doi1023071941447,
    author = "Levin, Simon A.",
    title = "The Problem of Pattern and Scale in Ecology: The Robert H. MacArthur Award Lecture",
    year = "1992",
    journal = "Ecology",
    abstract = {It is argued that the problem of pattern and scale is the central problem in ecology, unifying population biology and ecosystems science, and marrying basic and applied ecology. Applied challenges, such as the prediction of the ecological causes and consequences of global climate change, require the interfacing of phenomena that occur on very different scales of space, time, and ecological organization. Furthermore, there is no single natural scale at which ecological phenomena should be studied; systems generally show characteristic variability on a range of spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The observer imposes a perceptual bias, a filter through which the system is viewed. This has fundamental evolutionary significance, since every organism is an "observer" of the environment, and life history adaptations such as dispersal and dormancy alter the perceptual scales of the species, and the observed variability. It likewise has fundamental significance for our own study of ecological systems, since the patterns that are unique to any range of scales will have unique causes and biological consequences. The key to prediction and understanding lies in the elucidation of mechanisms underlying observed patterns. Typically, these mechanisms operate at different scales than those on which the patterns are observed; in some cases, the patterns must be understood as emerging form the collective behaviors of large ensembles of smaller scale units. In other cases, the pattern is imposed by larger scale constraints. Examination of such phenomena requires the study of how pattern and variability change with the scale of description, and the development of laws for simplification, aggregation, and scaling. Examples are given from the marine and terrestrial literatures.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.2307/1941447",
    doi = "10.2307/1941447",
    openalex = "W2322480672",
    references = "doi101007bfb0091924, doi101086282400, doi101098rstb19520012, doi101111j146918091937tb02153x, doi101111j155856461964tb01674x, doi1015159781400881376, doi1023071941447, doi1023072529912, doi105860choice295104, doi107551mitpress30140010001, openalexw1558456135, openalexw1576847343"
}

@article{gillings1996evolution,
    author = "Gillings, Annabel",
    title = "Evolution of hydrothermal ecosystems on earth (and Mars?)",
    year = "1996",
    journal = "BioEssays",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.950180614",
    doi = "10.1002/bies.950180614",
    number = "6",
    openalex = "W2032802314",
    pages = "515-517",
    volume = "18"
}

Over three decades of molecular-phylogenetic studies, researchers have compiled an increasingly robust map of evolutionary diversification showing that the main diversity of life is microbial, distributed among three primary relatedness groups or domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya. The general properties of representatives of the three domains indicate that the earliest life was based on inorganic nutrition and that photosynthesis and use of organic compounds for carbon and energy metabolism came comparatively later. The application of molecular-phylogenetic methods to study natural microbial ecosystems without the traditional requirement for cultivation has resulted in the discovery of many unexpected evolutionary lineages; members of some of these lineages are only distantly related to known organisms but are sufficiently abundant that they are likely to have impact on the chemistry of the biosphere.

@article{doi101126science2765313734,
    author = "Pace, Norman R.",
    title = "A Molecular View of Microbial Diversity and the Biosphere",
    year = "1997",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Over three decades of molecular-phylogenetic studies, researchers have compiled an increasingly robust map of evolutionary diversification showing that the main diversity of life is microbial, distributed among three primary relatedness groups or domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya. The general properties of representatives of the three domains indicate that the earliest life was based on inorganic nutrition and that photosynthesis and use of organic compounds for carbon and energy metabolism came comparatively later. The application of molecular-phylogenetic methods to study natural microbial ecosystems without the traditional requirement for cultivation has resulted in the discovery of many unexpected evolutionary lineages; members of some of these lineages are only distantly related to known organisms but are sufficiently abundant that they are likely to have impact on the chemistry of the biosphere.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.276.5313.734",
    doi = "10.1126/science.276.5313.734",
    openalex = "W2068687524",
    references = "doi101073pnas74115088, doi101073pnas87124576, doi101073pnas89125685, doi101126science202030, doi101128mr5122212711987"
}

@article{brunk1998evolution,
    author = "Brunk, C.",
    title = "Evolution of hydrothermal ecosystems on earth (and Mars?)",
    year = "1998",
    journal = "Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/s0031-0182(97)85949-4",
    doi = "10.1016/s0031-0182(97)85949-4",
    number = "1-4",
    openalex = "W2118223838",
    pages = "327-328",
    volume = "138"
}

@incollection{crossref2002biosphere,
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2002",
    booktitle = "Basics of Environmental Science",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203137529-9",
    doi = "10.4324/9780203137529-9",
    pages = "153-215"
}

@misc{crossref2004biosphere,
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2004",
    booktitle = "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Genetics, Genomics and Proteomics",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/0471684228.egp01402",
    doi = "10.1002/0471684228.egp01402"
}

@misc{crossref2007biosphere,
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2007",
    booktitle = "Encyclopedia of Environment and Society",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412953924.n89",
    doi = "10.4135/9781412953924.n89"
}

Acetylene occurs, by photolysis of methane, in the atmospheres of jovian planets and Titan. In contrast, acetylene is only a trace component of Earth's current atmosphere. Nonetheless, a methane-rich atmosphere has been hypothesized for early Earth; this atmosphere would also have been rich in acetylene. This poses a paradox, because acetylene is a potent inhibitor of many key anaerobic microbial processes, including methanogenesis, anaerobic methane oxidation, nitrogen fixation, and hydrogen oxidation. Fermentation of acetylene was discovered approximately 25 years ago, and Pelobacter acetylenicus was shown to grow on acetylene by virtue of acetylene hydratase, which results in the formation of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde subsequently dismutates to ethanol and acetate (plus some hydrogen). However, acetylene hydratase is specific for acetylene and does not react with any analogous compounds. We hypothesize that microbes with acetylene hydratase played a key role in the evolution of Earth's early biosphere by exploiting an available source of carbon from the atmosphere and in so doing formed protective niches that allowed for other microbial processes to flourish. Furthermore, the presence of acetylene in the atmosphere of a planet or planetoid could possibly represent evidence for an extraterrestrial anaerobic ecosystem.

@article{doi101089ast20070183,
    author = "Oremland, Ronald S. and Voytek, Mary A.",
    title = "Acetylene as Fast Food: Implications for Development of Life on Anoxic Primordial Earth and in the Outer Solar System",
    year = "2008",
    journal = "Astrobiology",
    abstract = "Acetylene occurs, by photolysis of methane, in the atmospheres of jovian planets and Titan. In contrast, acetylene is only a trace component of Earth's current atmosphere. Nonetheless, a methane-rich atmosphere has been hypothesized for early Earth; this atmosphere would also have been rich in acetylene. This poses a paradox, because acetylene is a potent inhibitor of many key anaerobic microbial processes, including methanogenesis, anaerobic methane oxidation, nitrogen fixation, and hydrogen oxidation. Fermentation of acetylene was discovered approximately 25 years ago, and Pelobacter acetylenicus was shown to grow on acetylene by virtue of acetylene hydratase, which results in the formation of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde subsequently dismutates to ethanol and acetate (plus some hydrogen). However, acetylene hydratase is specific for acetylene and does not react with any analogous compounds. We hypothesize that microbes with acetylene hydratase played a key role in the evolution of Earth's early biosphere by exploiting an available source of carbon from the atmosphere and in so doing formed protective niches that allowed for other microbial processes to flourish. Furthermore, the presence of acetylene in the atmosphere of a planet or planetoid could possibly represent evidence for an extraterrestrial anaerobic ecosystem.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2007.0183",
    doi = "10.1089/ast.2007.0183",
    openalex = "W2041289407",
    references = "doi101016001910359090114o"
}

@incollection{beer2012biosphere,
    author = "Beer, Jürg and McCracken, Ken and von Steiger, Rudolf",
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2012",
    booktitle = "Physics of Earth and Space Environments",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14651-0\_22",
    doi = "10.1007/978-3-642-14651-0\_22",
    pages = "389-395"
}

Humans, unlike any other multicellular species in Earth's history, have emerged as a global force that is transforming the ecology of an entire planet. It is no longer possible to understand, predict, or successfully manage ecological pattern, process, or change without understanding why and how humans reshape these over the long term. Here, a general causal theory is presented to explain why human societies gained the capacity to globally alter the patterns, processes, and dynamics of ecology and how these anthropogenic alterations unfold over time and space as societies themselves change over human generational time. Building on existing theories of ecosystem engineering, niche construction, inclusive inheritance, cultural evolution, ultrasociality, and social change, this theory of anthroecological change holds that sociocultural evolution of subsistence regimes based on ecosystem engineering, social specialization, and non‐kin exchange, or “sociocultural niche construction,” is the main cause of both the long‐term upscaling of human societies and their unprecedented transformation of the biosphere. Human sociocultural niche construction can explain, where classic ecological theory cannot, the sustained transformative effects of human societies on biogeography, ecological succession, ecosystem processes, and the ecological patterns and processes of landscapes, biomes, and the biosphere. Anthroecology theory generates empirically testable hypotheses on the forms and trajectories of long‐term anthropogenic ecological change that have significant theoretical and practical implications across the subdisciplines of ecology and conservation. Though still at an early stage of development, anthroecology theory aligns with and integrates established theoretical frameworks including social–ecological systems, social metabolism, countryside biogeography, novel ecosystems, and anthromes. The “fluxes of nature” are fast becoming “cultures of nature.” To investigate, understand, and address the ultimate causes of anthropogenic ecological change, not just the consequences, human sociocultural processes must become as much a part of ecological theory and practice as biological and geophysical processes are now. Strategies for achieving this goal and for advancing ecological science and conservation in an increasingly anthropogenic biosphere are presented.

@article{doi1018901422741,
    author = "Ellis, Erle C.",
    title = "Ecology in an anthropogenic biosphere",
    year = "2015",
    journal = "Ecological Monographs",
    abstract = "Humans, unlike any other multicellular species in Earth's history, have emerged as a global force that is transforming the ecology of an entire planet. It is no longer possible to understand, predict, or successfully manage ecological pattern, process, or change without understanding why and how humans reshape these over the long term. Here, a general causal theory is presented to explain why human societies gained the capacity to globally alter the patterns, processes, and dynamics of ecology and how these anthropogenic alterations unfold over time and space as societies themselves change over human generational time. Building on existing theories of ecosystem engineering, niche construction, inclusive inheritance, cultural evolution, ultrasociality, and social change, this theory of anthroecological change holds that sociocultural evolution of subsistence regimes based on ecosystem engineering, social specialization, and non‐kin exchange, or “sociocultural niche construction,” is the main cause of both the long‐term upscaling of human societies and their unprecedented transformation of the biosphere. Human sociocultural niche construction can explain, where classic ecological theory cannot, the sustained transformative effects of human societies on biogeography, ecological succession, ecosystem processes, and the ecological patterns and processes of landscapes, biomes, and the biosphere. Anthroecology theory generates empirically testable hypotheses on the forms and trajectories of long‐term anthropogenic ecological change that have significant theoretical and practical implications across the subdisciplines of ecology and conservation. Though still at an early stage of development, anthroecology theory aligns with and integrates established theoretical frameworks including social–ecological systems, social metabolism, countryside biogeography, novel ecosystems, and anthromes. The “fluxes of nature” are fast becoming “cultures of nature.” To investigate, understand, and address the ultimate causes of anthropogenic ecological change, not just the consequences, human sociocultural processes must become as much a part of ecological theory and practice as biological and geophysical processes are now. Strategies for achieving this goal and for advancing ecological science and conservation in an increasingly anthropogenic biosphere are presented.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1890/14-2274.1",
    doi = "10.1890/14-2274.1",
    openalex = "W2145303294",
    references = "doi101007s1375201200284, doi101016jgloenvcha200604002, doi101016jtree201202003, doi101017s0140525x06009083, doi101038461472a, doi101038nature10452, doi101073pnas0510792103, doi101073pnas1116437108, doi101086377665, doi101098rstb20100162, doi101111brv12053, doi101126science1168112, doi101126science1170165, doi101126science2775325494, doi101146annurevanthro291493, doi101537ase188722495, doi1016410006356820010510933teotwa20co2, doi1023071367778, openalexw1515810707, openalexw2624262714"
}

@misc{calvert2016biosphere,
    author = "Calvert, Jack G.",
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2016",
    booktitle = "IUPAC Standards Online",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1515/iupac.62.0115",
    doi = "10.1515/iupac.62.0115"
}

@article{andgladenkov2018startigraphic,
    author = "Gladenkov, Yu.B.",
    title = "STARTIGRAPHIC HORIZONS AND PROBLEMS OF BIOTIC COMMUNITIES’ EVOLUTION OF THE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN GEOMERIDIA AND BIOSPHERE",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Tikhookeanskaya Geologiya",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.30911/0207-4028-2018-37-5-16-30",
    doi = "10.30911/0207-4028-2018-37-5-16-30",
    openalex = "W2891328742",
    pages = "16-30",
    references = "doi1023072420377"
}

@article{doi101016jbiosystems201804004,
    author = "Melkikh, Alexey V. and Khrennikov, Andrei",
    title = "Mechanisms of directed evolution of morphological structures and the problems of morphogenesis",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Biosystems",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2018.04.004",
    doi = "10.1016/j.biosystems.2018.04.004",
    openalex = "W2804863524",
    references = "doi101016jbiosystems201406008, doi1010179781139540940014, doi101038nrm3896, doi101073pnas84217524, doi101093oso97801951315810010001, doi101098rstb19520012, doi1011094235585893, doi101145800157805047, doi101146annurevphyschem481545, doi101152physrev000052014, openalexw1576818901, openalexw2430930958"
}

While significant efforts have been invested in reconstructing the early evolution of the Earth's atmosphere-ocean-biosphere biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, the potential role of an early continental contribution by a terrestrial, microbial phototrophic biosphere has been largely overlooked. By transposing to the Archean nitrogen fluxes of modern topsoil communities known as biological soil crusts (terrestrial analogs of microbial mats), whose ancestors might have existed as far back as 3.2 Ga ago, we show that they could have impacted the evolution of the nitrogen cycle early on. We calculate that the net output of inorganic nitrogen reaching the Precambrian hydrogeological system could have been of the same order of magnitude as that of modern continents for a range of inhabited area as small as a few percent of that of present day continents. This contradicts the assumption that before the Great Oxidation Event, marine and continental biogeochemical nitrogen cycles were disconnected.

@article{doi101038s4146701804995y,
    author = "Thomazo, Christophe and Couradeau, Estelle and García‐Pichel, Ferrán",
    title = "Possible nitrogen fertilization of the early Earth Ocean by microbial continental ecosystems",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Nature Communications",
    abstract = "While significant efforts have been invested in reconstructing the early evolution of the Earth's atmosphere-ocean-biosphere biogeochemical nitrogen cycle, the potential role of an early continental contribution by a terrestrial, microbial phototrophic biosphere has been largely overlooked. By transposing to the Archean nitrogen fluxes of modern topsoil communities known as biological soil crusts (terrestrial analogs of microbial mats), whose ancestors might have existed as far back as 3.2 Ga ago, we show that they could have impacted the evolution of the nitrogen cycle early on. We calculate that the net output of inorganic nitrogen reaching the Precambrian hydrogeological system could have been of the same order of magnitude as that of modern continents for a range of inhabited area as small as a few percent of that of present day continents. This contradicts the assumption that before the Great Oxidation Event, marine and continental biogeochemical nitrogen cycles were disconnected.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04995-y",
    doi = "10.1038/s41467-018-04995-y",
    openalex = "W2808727815",
    references = "doi101016jprecamres201308001"
}

@article{gladenkov2018stratigraphic,
    author = "Gladenkov, Yu. B.",
    title = "Stratigraphic Horizons and Problems of Evolution of Biotic Communities of Marine Ecosystems within Geomerida and the Biosphere",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Russian Journal of Pacific Geology",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1134/s1819714018050044",
    doi = "10.1134/s1819714018050044",
    number = "5",
    openalex = "W2895119482",
    pages = "354-367",
    volume = "12",
    references = "doi1010160031018266900071, doi10108000206817809471369, doi101134s0869593810030019, doi101134s0869593815040048, doi102110pec95040129, doi1023071930070, doi1023072420377, openalexw2430930958, openalexw2915721471"
}

@article{doi101038s4301702000116w,
    author = "Planavsky, Noah J. and Crowe, Sean A. and Fakhraee, Mojtaba and Beaty, Brian and Reinhard, Christopher T. and Mills, Benjamin and Holstege, Cerys and Konhauser, Kurt O.",
    title = "Evolution of the structure and impact of Earth’s biosphere",
    year = "2021",
    journal = "Nature Reviews Earth \& Environment",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-00116-w",
    doi = "10.1038/s43017-020-00116-w",
    openalex = "W3120307837",
    references = "doi101016jearscirev2019102888, doi101016jprecamres201308001, doi101038s4158601914364, doi101111gbi12382"
}

The biostratigraphic data accumulated to date on the subdivision of the Phanerozoic marine sequences make it possible to interpret the evolution features of not only low-ranking biotic taxa but also paleocommunities (assemblages), which can be considered as biotic groupings historically formed under certain conditions. Examples of their evolution stages in various Geomerida marine ecosystems are given. The opinion is stated about the need to intensify the research on this topic with the involvement of both geologists and biologists.

@article{doi101134s0869593824700096,
    author = "Gladenkov, Yu. B.",
    title = "Evolution of Paleobiocommunities Is One of the Most Intractable Problems of Biostratigraphy",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation",
    abstract = "The biostratigraphic data accumulated to date on the subdivision of the Phanerozoic marine sequences make it possible to interpret the evolution features of not only low-ranking biotic taxa but also paleocommunities (assemblages), which can be considered as biotic groupings historically formed under certain conditions. Examples of their evolution stages in various Geomerida marine ecosystems are given. The opinion is stated about the need to intensify the research on this topic with the involvement of both geologists and biologists.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1134/s0869593824700096",
    doi = "10.1134/s0869593824700096",
    openalex = "W4400688958",
    references = "doi101093aesa383396, doi101134s0869593810030019, doi101134s0869593815040048, doi101134s0869593822050033, doi1023071930070, doi1023072420377, doi1023073241850, gladenkov2018stratigraphic"
}

@incollection{crossref2025biosphere,
    title = "Biosphere",
    year = "2025",
    booktitle = "Encyclopedia of Green Materials",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4618-7\_300161",
    doi = "10.1007/978-981-97-4618-7\_300161",
    pages = "388-388"
}