Community replacement, ecological shift and early warning signals prior to the end-Permian mass extinction: A case study from a nearshore clastic-shelf section in South China

From the studied section, a number of ecological traits including species abundance distribution, Shannon's diversity (H), community dominance and body-size structure were identified as demonstrating significant changes accompanying community replacement prior to the end-Permian mass extinction. The fact that these changes preceded the mass extinction may suggest that these traits could represent some early warning signals for an impending ecological regime shift. This extended interpretation clearly has significant implications for modern ecological studies to predict future impending ecological regime shifts.