The picture is an artist's rendition of what Wuda looked like 298 million years ago. Wang Jun's team identified 12 types of plants in the tropical swamp and restored them. Provided to China Daily

Filling a knowledge gap

As the first reconstruction of an ancient forest during this time interval that covers such a large area, it will guide future research on climate change, Wang said.

"The previous reconstructions of Earth's forests in this period are all conceptual," Wang said. "But our research depicted accurately how the trees were distributed in the forest and how they co-existed."

"The research is of particular importance because the Earth 298 million years ago shared similar kinds of climate patterns with the Earth today," Wang said. The climate was also experiencing transitions between icehouse and greenhouse, which would serve as an analogue for modern global vegetational change.

"We can learn how flora responded to climate change through the reconstruction, as it provided a context for the time period before and after," he said.

The reconstruction is also the first forest reconstruction in Asia and fills a large gap of knowledge.

Recalling his work during the years in the coal mine area, Wang said if he had not done the research during the open-pit mining period, he would never have had a second chance.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn