Diversity and abundance patterns of floras and faunas are controlled by short-term fluctuations of regional and global parameters, while phylogenetic trends are related to longer lasting environmental shifts. The session is focussed on the reaction of marine and continental biota towards rapid and long-term palaeoenvironmental change in the Mesozoic. It thus aims at developing a) a better insight into bio-evolutionary trends in relation to environmental change and b) an improvement of our understanding of palaeobiological proxies.