scholarly journals Response of Benthic Foraminifera to Environmental Variability: Importance of Benthic Foraminifera in Monitoring Studies

Author(s):  
Maria Virginia Alves Martins ◽  
Cintia Yamashita ◽  
Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa ◽  
Eduardo Apostolos Machado Koutsoukos ◽  
Sibelle Trevisan Disaró ◽  
...  
Geosciences ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Elena Romano ◽  
Luisa Bergamin ◽  
Mario Parise

Marine caves are characterized by wide environmental variability for the interaction between marine and continental processes. Their conditions may be defined as extreme for inhabiting organisms due to the enclosed morphology, lack of light, and scarcity of nutrients. Therefore, it is necessary to identify reliable ecological indicators for describing and assessing environmental conditions in these habitats even more than elsewhere. This review aims to provide the state of art related to the application of benthic foraminifera as proxies in the (paleo)ecological characterization of different habitats of marine caves. Special attention was addressed to a research project focused on Mediterranean marine caves with different characteristics, such as extent, morphology, freshwater influence, salinity, sediment type, oxygenation, and organic matter supply. This review aims to illustrate the reliability of foraminifera as an ecological and paleoecological indicator in these habitats. They respond to various environmental conditions with different assemblages corresponding to a very detailed habitat partitioning. Because marine caves may be considered natural laboratories for environmental variability, the results of these studies may be interpreted in the perspective of the global variability to understand the environmental drivers of future changes in marine systems.


1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald E. Martin

The utility of benthic foraminifera in bathymetric interpretation of clastic depositional environments is well established. In contrast, bathymetric distribution of benthic foraminifera in deep-water carbonate environments has been largely neglected. Approximately 260 species and morphotypes of benthic foraminifera were identified from 12 piston core tops and grab samples collected along two traverses 25 km apart across the northern windward margin of Little Bahama Bank at depths of 275-1,135 m. Certain species and operational taxonomic groups of benthic foraminifera correspond to major near-surface sedimentary facies of the windward margin of Little Bahama Bank and serve as reliable depth indicators. Globocassidulina subglobosa, Cibicides rugosus, and Cibicides wuellerstorfi are all reliable depth indicators, being most abundant at depths >1,000 m, and are found in lower slope periplatform aprons, which are primarily comprised of sediment gravity flows. Reef-dwelling peneroplids and soritids (suborder Miliolina) and rotaliines (suborder Rotaliina) are most abundant at depths <300 m, reflecting downslope bottom transport in proximity to bank-margin reefs. Small miliolines, rosalinids, and discorbids are abundant in periplatform ooze at depths <300 m and are winnowed from the carbonate platform. Increased variation in assemblage diversity below 900 m reflects mixing of shallow- and deep-water species by sediment gravity flows.


2020 ◽  
Vol 651 ◽  
pp. 125-143
Author(s):  
TD Auth ◽  
T Arula ◽  
ED Houde ◽  
RJ Woodland

The bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli is the most abundant fish in Chesapeake Bay (USA) and is a vital link between plankton and piscivores within the trophic structure of this large estuarine ecosystem. Baywide distributions and abundances of bay anchovy eggs and larvae, and larval growth, were analyzed in a 5 yr program to evaluate temporal and spatial variability based on research surveys in the 1995-1999 spawning seasons. Effects of environmental variability and abundance of zooplankton that serve as prey for larval bay anchovy were analyzed. In the years of these surveys, 97.6% of eggs and 98.8% of larvae occurred in the polyhaline lower bay. Median egg and larval abundances differed more than 10-fold for surveys conducted in the 5 yr and were highest in the lower bay. Within years, median larval abundance (ind. m-2) in the lower bay was generally 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than upper-bay abundance. Salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen explained 12% of the spatial and temporal variability in egg abundances and accounted for 27% of the variability in larval abundances. The mean, baywide growth rate for larvae over the 5 yr period was 0.75 ± 0.01 mm d-1, and was best explained by zooplankton concentration and feeding incidence. Among years, mean growth rates ranged from 0.68 (in 1999) to 0.81 (in 1998) mm d-1 and were fastest in the upper bay. We identified environmental factors, especially salinity, that contributed to broadscale variability in egg and larval production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 269-287
Author(s):  
WC Thaxton ◽  
JC Taylor ◽  
RG Asch

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, variation in the direction and magnitude of shifts in species occurrence in space and time may disrupt interspecific interactions in ecological communities. In this study, we examined how the fall and winter ichthyoplankton community in the Newport River Estuary located inshore of Pamlico Sound in the southeastern United States has responded to environmental variability over the last 27 yr. We relate the timing of estuarine ingress of 10 larval fish species to changes in sea surface temperature (SST), the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, wind strength and phenology, and tidal height. We also examined whether any species exhibited trends in ingress phenology over the last 3 decades. Species varied in the magnitude of their responses to all of the environmental variables studied, but most shared a common direction of change. SST and northerly wind strength had the largest impact on estuarine ingress phenology, with most species ingressing earlier during warm years and delaying ingress during years with strong northerly winds. As SST warms in the coming decades, the average date of ingress of some species (Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, pinfish Lagodon rhomboides) is projected to advance on the order of weeks to months, assuming temperatures do not exceed a threshold at which species can no longer respond through changes in phenology. These shifts in ingress could affect larval survival and growth since environmental conditions in the estuarine and pelagic nursery habitats of fishes also vary seasonally.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suhartati M. Natsir

Foraminifera are generally live in sea water with various sizes. These organisms consist of planktonic and benthic foraminifera. Geological activity on plutonic and volcanic with vomiting magma is transpiring on, and then affects sedimentation and foraminiferal abundance of Ambon Bay. The study was determined to study the abundance and distribution of foraminifera based on the sediment characteristic of Ambon Bay. Sample collected in 2007 of Ambon Bay showed that only 29 samples of 50 samples containing foraminifera. The collected sediments have 86 species of foraminifera, consisting 61 species of benthic foraminifera and 25 species of planktonic foraminifera. The dominant benthic foraminifera in the surface sediment of Ambon bay were Amphistegina lessonii, Ammoniabeccarii,Elphidium craticulatum,Operculina ammonoides and Quinqueloculina parkery. The planktonic foraminifera that were frequently collected from the bay were Globorotalia tumida, Globoquadrina pseudofoliata, Globigerinoides pseudofoliata, Globigerinoides cyclostomus dan Pulleniatina finalis. Generally, the species dwelled as abundant on substrate sand, whereas the areas within substrate mud have no foraminifera lie on them. Keywords: Foraminifera, Abundance, Sediment, Ambon Bay


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Costa POMPEU ◽  
Anna Andressa Evangelista NOGUEIRA ◽  
Juan Sebastian Gomez NEITA ◽  
Nils Advin ASP NETO

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