Wildfires in the Late Palaeozoic of Central Europe – The Zechstein (Upper Permian) of NW-Hesse (Germany)

Fossil charcoal, as the direct evidence of wildfires, is present in most of the plant-bearing deposits from the Central European Zechstein (Upper Permian). The charcoal content of Upper Permian sediments collected at the locality Frankenberg–Geismar (NW-Hesse, Germany) is allochthonous and the shape of the fragments, and the rounded edges, indicate transport over relatively long distances. Charcoalified conifer needles are very rare and usually highly fragmented. The anatomical diversity of charred wood is higher than that of the permineralised woods from the Zechstein that have been described previously. It is not yet clear whether this represents a higher diversity of natural taxa or anatomicaly different parts belonging to only a few taxa. Until now, virtually nothing is known about the fire ecology of Late Palaeozoic, conifer-dominated, upland vegetation. The presence of charcoal indicates that these vegetation, which grew under mesic to xeric conditions, may have experienced more or less regular wildfires. Wildfires may have been relatively frequent during the Late Permian, as compared to climatically comparable modern ecosystems.