ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the possible impact of some of these environmental changes on the functioning of terrestrial vegetation. It considers the temporal dimension of plant responses to Phanerozoic global environmental change and illustrated the marked influence of climate on vegetation function, particularly in the Carboniferous. The chapter considers in more detail the effects of a Carboniferous atmosphere on rates of CO2 fixation and water loss by leaves and then extend the spatial dimension by considering the influence of the Carboniferous climate on plant and ecosystem function at the global scale. Whole scale changes in global climate and atmospheric composition occurred during the evolution of terrestrial vegetation. These changes are predicted to have affected both the nature of the physiology of plants evolving under these varying conditions and to have impacted directly on plant function.
