Mesozoic forests of Britain

Jurassic landscape

An artist's impression of the Jurassic landscape

Principal Investigator

Dr Paul Kenrick

Project summary

  • Focus: The productivity of important Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous forests of southern England

This project aims to investigate the productivity of important Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous forests of southern England. 

Work will focus initially on forests of the Purbeck Formation, which are associated with the mining of Portland Stone. 

We are using new laser scanning technology to reconstruct tree habit accurately and characterise the tree component of the Formation.

We hope this research will enable us to better understand forest ecosystems of the Mesozoic Era, and document an important feature of the geological heritage of the British Isles.

Mesozoic ecosystems research

We are studying forest ecosystems of the Mesozoic Era and the interactions of their plant and dinosaur inhabitants.

Other projects:

Origins, evolution and futures research

We study the Earth's origins and environment, and the evolution of life.

Invertebrate and plant palaeobiology research

We are investigating the origins and evolution of these diverse fossil groups.

Palaeobotany collections

The palaeobotany collection spans the Archean to the present, containing cyanobacteria, fungi and plants.