DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tg469
title: Data from: A quantitative comparison of dispersed spore/pollen and plant megafossil assemblages from a Middle Jurassic plant bed from Yorkshire, UK

description: Detailed quantitative data has previously been collected from plant
 megafossil assemblages from a Middle Jurassic (Aalenian) plant bed from
 Hasty Bank, North Yorkshire, UK. We conducted a similar analysis of
 palynological dispersed sporomorph (spore and pollen) assemblages
 collected from the same section using the same sampling regime: 67
 sporomorph taxa were recorded from 50 samples taken at 10 cm intervals
 through the plant bed. Basic palynofacies analysis was also undertaken on
 each sample. Both dispersed sporomorph and plant megafossil assemblages
 display consistent changes in composition, diversity (richness), and
 abundance through time. However, the dispersed sporomorph and plant
 megafossil records provide conflicting evidence for the nature of parent
 vegetation. Specifically, conifers and ferns are underrepresented in plant
 megafossil assemblages, bryophytes and lycopsids are represented only in
 sporomorph assemblages, and sphenophytes, pteridosperms, Caytoniales,
 Cycadales, Ginkgoales and Bennettitales are comparatively underrepresented
 in sporomorph assemblages. Combined multivariate analysis (correspondence
 analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling) of sporomorph
 occurrence/abundance data demonstrates that temporal variation in
 sporomorph assemblages is the result of depositional change through the
 plant bed. The reproductive strategies of parent plants are considered to
 be a principal factor in shaping many of the major abundance and diversity
 irregularities between dispersed sporomorph and plant megafossil data sets
 that seemingly reflects different parent vegetation. Preferential
 occurrence/preservation of sporomorphs and equivalent parent plants is a
 consequence of a complex array of biological, ecological, geographical,
 taphonomic, and depositional factors that act inconsistently between and
 within fossil assemblages, which results in notable discrepancies between
 data sets.
description: Supplementary Figure
 1Histogram of abundances
 and distributions of plant megafossils through the Hasty Bank plant bed.
 Modified from Spicer and Hill (1979).Supplementary Figure
 2Relative abundance chart
 of all sporomorph taxa from the Hasty Bank plant bed. Relative abundances
 of Jurassic taxa are calculated from counts of at least 200 grains. Spiked
 Lycopodium count data is shown as a percentage of the indigenous Jurassic
 taxa plus the spiked Lycopodium itself.Supplementary Table
 1Raw
 data set of all sporomorph taxa through the Hasty Bank plant bed. “p”
 indicates taxa which are present within slides but not in
 counts.Supplementary Table
 2Raw
 data set of all palynofacies counts through the Hasty Bank plant
 bed.Supplementary Table
 3Botanical affinities of
 sporomorphs from the Hasty Bank plant bed. The ages (period) of deposits
 from which sporomorphs were recovered from are provided in the “Reference”
 column. “–” indicates an unknown affinity or a lack of published
 information available.Supplementary Table
 4Correspondence analysis
 data of samples and taxa using logarithmically transformed sporomorph
 relative abundances (refers to Fig. 6A).Supplementary Table
 5Correspondence analysis
 data of samples and taxa using sporomorph presence–absences (refers to
 Fig. 6B).Supplementary Table
 6Nonmetric
 multidimensional scaling data of samples using logarithmically transformed
 sporomorph relative abundances (refers to Fig. 6C).Supplementary Table
 7Nonmetric
 multidimensional scaling data of samples using sporomorph
 presence–absences (refers to Fig. 6D).Supplementary Table
 8Correspondence analysis
 data of taxa and samples using logarithmically transformed sporomorph
 relative abundances (refers to Fig. 7A).