Cold and dark periods have descended on Earth several times in geological history.One such period characterized the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary,following a meteor impact near Chicxulub in Mexico,about 66 million years ago,which caused dust,sulfate aerosols,and soot particles to be ejected into the atmosphere.This in turn led to a so-called "impact winter," inhibiting photosynthesis and causing a global collapse of terrestrial and marine food webs,leading to the extinction of 60％-70％ of plants and animals (Alvarez et al.,1980).Different from animals that might still be able to find shelter and detritus food in a harsh environment,plants are sessile and require (lots of) light for photosynthesis.How did they survive in a time of prolonged darkness and decreasing temperatures (Vellekoop et al.,2016)?
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