scholarly journals Quantifying ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering during the early Phanerozoic—The role of bioturbation and bioerosion

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (33) ◽  
pp. eabb0618
Author(s):  
Luis A. Buatois ◽  
M. Gabriela Mángano ◽  
Nicholas J. Minter ◽  
Kai Zhou ◽  
Max Wisshak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Engineering ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
Stratified Ocean ◽  
Marine Nearshore ◽  
Oxygen Minimum ◽  
Diversity Metrics

The Cambrian explosion (CE) and the great Ordovician biodiversification event (GOBE) are the two most important radiations in Paleozoic oceans. We quantify the role of bioturbation and bioerosion in ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering using information from 1367 stratigraphic units. An increase in all diversity metrics is demonstrated for the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition, followed by a decrease in most values during the middle to late Cambrian, and by a more modest increase during the Ordovician. A marked increase in ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity of bioturbation is shown during the CE and of bioerosion during the GOBE. Innovations took place first in offshore settings and later expanded into marginal-marine, nearshore, deep-water, and carbonate environments. This study highlights the importance of the CE, despite its Ediacaran roots. Differences in infaunalization in offshore and shelf paleoenvironments favor the hypothesis of early Cambrian wedge-shaped oxygen minimum zones instead of a horizontally stratified ocean.

scholarly journals Decoupled evolution of soft and hard substrate communities during the Cambrian Explosion and Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (25) ◽  
pp. 6945-6948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Buatois ◽  
Maria G. Mángano ◽  
Ricardo A. Olea ◽  
Mark A. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Hard Substrate ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
Unconsolidated Sediment ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Hard Substrates ◽  
Shed Light

Contrasts between the Cambrian Explosion (CE) and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) have long been recognized. Whereas the vast majority of body plans were established as a result of the CE, taxonomic increases during the GOBE were manifested at lower taxonomic levels. Assessing changes of ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity as a result of these two evolutionary events may shed light on the dynamics of both radiations. The early Cambrian (series 1 and 2) displayed a dramatic increase in ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity in softground communities. In contrast to this evolutionary explosion in bioturbation structures, only a few Cambrian bioerosion structures are known. After the middle to late Cambrian diversity plateau, ichnodiversity in softground communities shows a continuous increase during the Ordovician in both shallow- and deep-marine environments. This Ordovician increase in bioturbation diversity was not paralleled by an equally significant increase in ichnodisparity as it was during the CE. However, hard substrate communities were significantly different during the GOBE, with an increase in ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity. Innovations in macrobioerosion clearly lagged behind animal–substrate interactions in unconsolidated sediment. The underlying causes of this evolutionary decoupling are unclear but may have involved three interrelated factors: (i) a Middle to Late Ordovician increase in available hard substrates for bioerosion, (ii) increased predation, and (iii) higher energetic requirements for bioerosion compared with bioturbation.

The role of large benthic sulfur bacteria in biogeochemical cycles - a model approach.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Herran ◽  
Martin Schmidt ◽  
Volker Mohrholz ◽  
Heide Schulz-Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Oxidation ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Sulfur Bacteria ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
Conservation Efficiency ◽  
Great Complexity ◽  
Oxygen Minimum ◽  
Model Approach

<p>On the seabed of oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), embedded in organic-rich sediments, large sulfur bacteria (LSB) fulfil an important ecological role by detoxifying the overlying bottom waters. <em>Thiomargarita Namibiensis</em> and <em>Beggiatoa</em> spp. are chemoautotrophic microorganisms that reduce sulfur compounds to create biomass and link by doing so the carbon, sulfur, oxygen and nitrate cycle very efficiently. This particular ability make life in suboxic and hypoxic coastal waters feasible. Nevertheless, due to the complexity of sulfur oxidation and its various pathways the quantification of such activity is of great complexity. Hereby, we describe a model framework of LSB activity to implement intrinsic properties of the bacteria based on field observations and numerical modelling validations, linking the stoichiometry and energy conservation efficiency of LSB while counting for the reduced sulfur pools and its partitioning sub-products.</p>

scholarly journals Oxygen minimum zones in the early Cambrian ocean

2018 ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Guilbaud ◽  
B.J. Slater ◽  
S.W. Poulton ◽  
T.H.P. Harvey ◽  
J.J. Brocks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

scholarly journals Novel metagenome-assembled genomes involved in the nitrogen cycle from a Pacific oxygen minimum zone

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Sun ◽  
Bess B. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Loss ◽  
Bacterial Genome ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Microbial Adaptation ◽  
Medium Quality ◽  
Minimum Zone ◽  
Oxygen Minimum ◽  
Reducing Potential

AbstractOxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are unique marine regions where broad redox gradients stimulate biogeochemical cycles. Despite the important and unique role of OMZ microbes in these cycles, they are less characterized than microbes from the oxic ocean. Here we recovered 39 high- and medium-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the Eastern Tropical South Pacific OMZ. More than half of these MAGs were not represented at the species level among 2631 MAGs from global marine datasets. OMZ MAGs were dominated by denitrifiers catalyzing nitrogen loss and especially MAGs with partial denitrification metabolism. A novel bacterial genome with nitrate-reducing potential could only be assigned to the phylum level. A Marine-Group II archaeon was found to be a versatile denitrifier, with the potential capability to respire multiple nitrogen compounds including N2O. The newly discovered denitrifying MAGs will improve our understanding of microbial adaptation strategies and the evolution of denitrification in the tree of life.

Early Ordovician alkali-ultramafic Zhilandy complex (Central Kazakhstan): structure and age of formation

2019 ◽  
Vol 484 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-65
Author(s):  
R. M. Antonuk ◽  
A. A. Tretyakov ◽  
K. E. Degtyarev ◽  
A. B. Kotov
Keyword(s):  
Complex Formation ◽  
Central Asian Orogenic Belt ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Early Ordovician ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Geochronological Study ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic ◽  
Quartz Monzodiorites

U–Pb geochronological study of amphibole-bearing quartz monzodiorites of the alkali-ultramafic Zhilandy complex in Central Kazakhstan, whose formation is deduced at the Early Ordovician era (479 ± 3 Ma). The obtained data indicate three stages of intra-plate magmatism in the western part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Late Neoproterozoic stage of alkali syenites of the Karsakpay complex intrusion, Early Cambrian stage of ultramafic-gabbroid plutons of the Ulutau complex formation, and Late Cambrian–Early Ordovician stage of formation of the Zhilandy complex and Krasnomay complex intrusions.

scholarly journals Current understanding on the Cambrian Explosion: questions and answers

PalZ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingliang Zhang ◽  
Degan Shu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Questions And Answers ◽  
Evolutionary Event ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe Cambrian Explosion by nature is a three-phased explosion of animal body plans alongside episodic biomineralization, pulsed change of generic diversity, body size variation, and progressive increase of ecosystem complexity. The Cambrian was a time of crown groups nested by numbers of stem groups with a high-rank taxonomy of Linnaean system (classes and above). Some stem groups temporarily succeeded while others were ephemeral and underrepresented by few taxa. The high number of stem groups in the early history of animals is a major reason for morphological gaps across phyla that we see today. Most phylum-level clades achieved their maximal disparity (or morphological breadth) during the time interval close to their first appearance in the fossil record during the early Cambrian, whereas others, principally arthropods and chordates, exhibit a progressive exploration of morphospace in subsequent Phanerozoic. The overall envelope of metazoan morphospace occupation was already broad in the early Cambrian though it did not reach maximal disparity nor has diminished significantly as a consequence of extinction since the Cambrian. Intrinsic and extrinsic causes were extensively discussed but they are merely prerequisites for the Cambrian Explosion. Without the molecular evolution, there could be no Cambrian Explosion. However, the developmental system is alone insufficient to explain Cambrian Explosion. Time-equivalent environmental changes were often considered as extrinsic causes, but the time coincidence is also insufficient to establish causality. Like any other evolutionary event, it is the ecology that make the Cambrian Explosion possible though ecological processes failed to cause a burst of new body plans in the subsequent evolutionary radiations. The Cambrian Explosion is a polythetic event in natural history and manifested in many aspects. No simple, single cause can explain the entire phenomenon.

scholarly journals In situ quantification of ultra‐low O 2 concentrations in oxygen minimum zones: Application of novel optodes

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 784-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Larsen ◽  
Philipp Lehner ◽  
Sergey M. Borisov ◽  
Ingo Klimant ◽  
Jan P. Fischer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

scholarly journals Expanded oxygen minimum zones during the late Paleocene-early Eocene: Hints from multiproxy comparison and ocean modeling

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1532-1546 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Zhou ◽  
E. Thomas ◽  
A. M. E. Winguth ◽  
A. Ridgwell ◽  
H. Scher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Modeling ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zones ◽  
Late Paleocene ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

scholarly journals Biogeomorphic feedbacks and the ecosystem engineering of recently deglaciated terrain

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah R Miller ◽  
Stuart N Lane
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Ecosystem Engineer ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Ecosystem Engineering ◽  
Soil Development ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Successional Stage ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors

Matthews’ 1992 geoecological model of vegetation succession within glacial forefields describes how following deglaciation the landscape evolves over time as the result of both biotic and abiotic factors, with the importance of each depending on the level of environmental stress within the system. We focus in this paper on how new understandings of abiotic factors and the potential for biogeomorphic feedbacks between abiotic and biotic factors makes further development of this model important. Disturbance and water dynamics are two abiotic factors that have been shown to create stress gradients that can drive early ecosystem succession. The subsequent establishment of microbial communities and vegetation can then result in biogeomorphic feedbacks via ecosystem engineering that influence the role of disturbance and water dynamics within the system. Microbes can act as ecosystem engineers by supplying nutrients (via remineralization of organic matter and nitrogen fixation), enhancing soil development, either decreasing (encouraging weathering) or increasing (binding sediment grains) geomorphic stability, and helping retain soil moisture. Vegetation can act as an ecosystem engineer by fixing nitrogen, enhancing soil development, modifying microbial community structure, creating seed banks, and increasing geomorphic stability. The feedbacks between vegetation and water dynamics in glacial forefields are still poorly studied. We propose a synthesized model of ecosystem succession within glacial forefields that combines Matthews’ initial geoecological model and Corenblit's model to illustrate how gradients in environmental stress combined with successional time drive the balance between abiotic and biotic factors and ultimately determine the successional stage and potential for biogeomorphic feedbacks.

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