The terrestrial vegetation is unambiguously an important factor in the climate system, modulating the exchange of energy, momentum, water vapor, and other trace gases between land and atmosphere. Here, we review the evolution of the terrestrial flora from the Proterozoic through to the Neogene at three distinct scales—the overall evolution of floral composition, the evolution of plant physiology, and the evolution of landscape occupation both spatially and seasonally—all in the context of how the vegetation may have influenced climate through time and which deep-time evolutionary transitions may have had the greatest effect. Our focus is upon the direct impacts of the vegetation on temperature and precipitation, but we also consider the indirect impacts of plants on climate via atmospheric composition. We argue that the times of greatest change in plant climate feedbacks are likely to have been the Carboniferous and the early Paleogene.

中文翻译：

---

地质时间尺度上的植物进化和气候

陆地植被无疑是气候系统中的一个重要因素，调节陆地和大气之间的能量、动量、水汽和其他微量气体的交换。在这里，我们在三个不同的尺度上回顾了从元古代到新近纪的陆地植物群的演化——植物组成的整体演化、植物生理学的演化以及景观占据空间和季节的演化——所有这些都在背景下植被如何随着时间的推移影响气候以及哪些深时进化转变可能产生了最大的影响。我们的重点是植被对温度和降水的直接影响，但我们也考虑了植物通过大气成分对气候的间接影响。