Mass Global Extinction Period

A Mass Global Extinction Period is a mass extinction phase that involves significant mass global extinction biodiversity loss due to biological process changes rather than primarily geological or astronomical events.

• AKA: Biotic Extinction Period, Biological-Driven Extinction Phase.
• Context:
  • It can typically result from the evolution of new mass global extinction causative organisms that fundamentally alter mass global extinction environmental conditions beyond the adaptation capability of existing mass global extinction species.
  • It can typically involve the introduction of novel mass global extinction biological processes such as photosynthesis, predation, or mass global extinction biotoxin production that disrupt established mass global extinction ecosystem equilibrium.
  • It can typically create mass global extinction atmospheric alterations through biological activity rather than through volcanic eruptions or asteroid impacts.
  • It can typically result in the complete eradication of certain mass global extinction vulnerable species, often leading to significant shifts in the composition of mass global extinction ecosystems.
  • It can typically be followed by periods of mass global extinction evolutionary radiation, where the number of mass global extinction species diversifies rapidly to fill mass global extinction vacated niches.
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  • It can often occur over extended geological timeframes rather than the rapid extinction event patterns associated with catastrophic events.
  • It can often be associated with the emergence of mass global extinction novel metabolisms that alter fundamental biogeochemical cycles.
  • It can often lead to mass global extinction competitive exclusion as new mass global extinction organisms with superior mass global extinction adaptations displace less competitive mass global extinction species.
  • It can often create a mass global extinction ripple effect throughout the global ecosystem as keystone species disappear and trophic cascades occur.
  • It can often be more difficult to identify in the geological record than mass global extinction events because of their gradual nature and lack of distinct boundary layers.
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  • It can range from being a Rapid Mass Global Extinction Period to being a Gradual Mass Global Extinction Period, depending on its mass global extinction temporal progression.
  • It can range from being a Simple Mass Global Extinction Period to being a Complex Mass Global Extinction Period, depending on its mass global extinction causative mechanism count.
  • It can range from being a Regional Mass Global Extinction Period to being a Global Mass Global Extinction Period, depending on its mass global extinction geographical extent.
  • It can range from being a Minor Mass Global Extinction Period to being a Major Mass Global Extinction Period, depending on its mass global extinction biodiversity impact percentage.
  • It can range from being a Natural Mass Global Extinction Period to being an Anthropogenic Mass Global Extinction Period, depending on its mass global extinction causative agent.
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  • It can demonstrate how evolutionary innovations can function as both mass global extinction creative forces and mass global extinction destructive forces in planetary ecosystems.
  • It can represent a form of biological disruption that fundamentally alters the evolutionary trajectory of life on Earth.
  • It can provide insight into how ecological resilience operates during periods of mass global extinction biological stress.
  • It can serve as a natural experiment in mass global extinction ecosystem recovery following biologically-induced collapse.
  • It can reveal evolutionary bottleneck patterns that shape subsequent biodiversity development.
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• Examples:
  • Mass Global Extinction Period Causal Categories, such as:
    • Metabolic Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • Great Oxygenation Event Mass Global Extinction Period (~2.4 Bya), also known as the Oxygen Catastrophe, where photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria) began producing oxygen as a metabolic waste product, leading to significant changes in the Earth's atmosphere and the mass global extinction of many anaerobic organisms through oxygen toxicity.
      • Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event Mass Global Extinction Period (~750 Mya), where a second major rise in atmospheric oxygen likely drove mass global extinction of organisms unable to adapt to increased oxidative stress.
    • Competitive Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • End-Ediacaran Mass Global Extinction Period (~540 Mya), which may have been due to the evolution and rapid spread of new, more advanced animal life forms during the Cambrian Explosion, outcompeting the earlier Ediacaran fauna through predation and resource competition.
      • Mesozoic-Cenozoic Mass Global Extinction Period (~66 Mya onward), where the rise of mammals following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event led to competitive displacement of many surviving reptile groups.
    • Vegetation Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • Devonian Mass Global Extinction Period (~375-359 Mya), where changes in land plants, particularly the evolution and spread of large, tree-like plants, may have altered global carbon cycling and led to oxygen depletion in the oceans, triggering marine ecosystem collapse.
      • Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse Mass Global Extinction Period (~305 Mya), where changes in plant communities and climate led to fragmentation of coal forests and mass global extinction of many amphibian species.
    • Microbial Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • Permian-Triassic Mass Global Extinction Period (~252 Mya), where a possible biotic cause might be the proliferation of certain methane-producing bacteria that released large amounts of greenhouse gas, potentially leading to drastic global warming and ocean anoxia.
      • End-Triassic Mass Global Extinction Period (~201 Mya), where microbial blooms may have contributed to ocean acidification and mass global extinction biodiversity loss.
  • Mass Global Extinction Period Temporal Categories, such as:
    • Ancient Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • Proterozoic Mass Global Extinction Periods occurring before the evolution of complex multicellular life.
      • Paleozoic Mass Global Extinction Periods affecting early complex life forms.
    • Modern Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
      • Anthropocene Mass Global Extinction Period (Present), driven by human activity including habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and species introduction.
      • Potential Future Mass Global Extinction Periods, such as:
        • Human-due Mass Global Extinction Period, where continued anthropogenic impacts exceed planetary boundarys.
        • Superintelligence-due Mass Global Extinction Period, where hypothetical future artificial intelligence systems might alter Earth ecosystems in ways incompatible with existing biodiversity.
  • Mass Global Extinction Period Impact Categories, such as:
    • Marine-Focused Mass Global Extinction Periods primarily affecting ocean ecosystems.
    • Terrestrial-Focused Mass Global Extinction Periods primarily affecting land ecosystems.
    • Microbial-Focused Mass Global Extinction Periods primarily affecting microbial communitys.
    • Comprehensive Mass Global Extinction Periods affecting all major ecosystems.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Mass Extinction Events, such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction Event or Nuclear Winter Event, which occur rapidly due to catastrophic geological or astronomical events rather than through gradual biological process changes.
  • Evolutionary Radiation Events, which are periods marked by the rapid proliferation of new species through diversification rather than periods of biodiversity loss through extinction.
  • Adaptive Radiations, which typically occur after a mass extinction event and represent a recovery phase characterized by species diversification rather than a mass global extinction phase.
  • Local Extinction Processes that affect regional biodiversity without causing significant global biodiversity changes or ecosystem restructuring.
  • Speciation Events that increase overall biodiversity rather than reducing it through mass global extinction.
• See: Mass Extinction Event, Mass Extinction Phase, Extinction Event, Paleontology, Geologic Time Scale, Biodiversity, Cyanobacteria, Photosynthesis, Oxygen, Evolutionary Radiation, Cambrian Explosion, Trophic Cascade, Biogeochemical Cycle, Ecosystem Collapse, Keystone Species, Anthropocene, Great Dying, Oxygen Catastrophe, Microbiome, Climate Change.

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