Assessing the Contribution of Foraminiferan Protists to Global Ocean Carbonate Production<sup>1</sup>

Langer, Martin R.

doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2008.00321.x

Cited by 175 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(90 reference statements)

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“…Similar to reef-building corals, larger foraminifera are important producers of CaCO 3 (Langer, 2008) and are sensitive to changes in water quality. Thus, their distribution and evolution reflects short-and longterm environmental changes in the shallow-water domain (Hallock, 2000).…”

Section: Parameters Controlling Larger Foraminifera Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Scheibner

Speijer

2008

Earth-Science Reviews

164

163

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The early Paleogene experienced the most pronounced long-term warming trend of the Cenozoic, superimposed by transient warming events such as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The consequences of climatic perturbations and associated changes on the evolution of carbonate platforms are relatively unexplored. Today, modern carbonate platforms, especially coral reefs are highly sensitive to environmental and climatic change, which raises the question how (sub)tropical reef systems of the early Paleogene reacted to gradual and sudden global warming, eutrophication of shelf areas, enhanced CO 2 levels in an ocean with low Mg/Ca ratios. The answer to this question may help to investigate the fate of modern coral reef systems in times of global warming and rising CO 2 levels. Here we present a synthesis of Tethyan carbonate platform evolution in the early Paleogene (~59-55 Ma) concentrating on coral reefs and larger foraminifera, two important organism groups during this time interval. We discuss and evaluate the importance of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors leading to the dissimilar evolution of both groups during the early Paleogene. Detailed analyses of two carbonate platform areas at low (Egypt) and middle (Spain) paleolatitudes and comparison with faunal patterns of coeval platforms retrieved from the literature led to the distinction of three evolutionary stages in the late Paleocene to early Eocene Tethys: Stage I, late Paleocene coralgal-dominated platforms at low to middle paleolatitudes; stage II, a transitional latest Paleocene platform stage with coralgal reefs dominating at middle paleolatitudes and larger foraminifera-dominated (Miscellanea, Ranikothalia, Assilina) platforms at low paleolatitudes; and stage III, early Eocene larger foraminifera-dominated (Alveolina, Orbitolites, Nummulites) platforms at low to middle paleolatitudes. The onset of the latter prominent larger foraminifera-dominated platform correlates with the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum. The causes for the change from coral-dominated platforms to larger foraminifera-dominated platforms are multilayered. The decline of coralgal reefs in low latitudes during platform stage II is related to overall warming, leading to sea-surface temperatures in the tropics beyond the maximum temperature range of corals. The overall low occurrence of coral reefs in the Paleogene might be related to the presence of a calcite sea. At the same time larger foraminifera started to flourish after their near extinction at the Cretaceous/ Paleogene boundary. The demise of coralgal reefs at all studied paleolatitudes in platform stage III can be founded on the effects of the PETM, resulting in short-term warming, eutrophic conditions on the shelves and acidification of the oceans, hampering the growth of aragonitic corals, while calcitic larger foraminifera flourished. In the absence of other successful carbonate-producing organisms, larger foraminifera were able to take over the role as the dominant carbonate platform inhabitant, leading to a stepw...

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Section: Parameters Controlling Larger Foraminifera Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Scheibner

Speijer

2008

Earth-Science Reviews

164

163

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“…In the present ocean, coccolithophores are believed to account for at least half of the 80 to 120 Tmol particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) produced each year in the marine pelagial (Degens & Ittekkot 1986, Westbroek et al 1993, Berelson et al 2007, Broecker & Clark 2009. A further 21% of the marine pelagial CaCO 3 is deposited by foraminiferans (Langer 2008), some of which are symbiotically photosynthetic. The other photosynthetic CaCO 3 producers in the marine pelagial are certain dinoflagellates (Gadd & Raven 2010) and cyanobacteria such as Trichodesmium (Kranz et al 2010), but these only make very minor contributions to global pelagial CaCO 3 precipitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental controls on coccolithophore calcification

Raven

Crawfurd²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

113

107

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Coccolithophores are major contributors to global marine planktonic calcification, and in nature coccolithophores are invariably calcified through almost all of their life cycle. The response of calcification to environmental factors is essential in understanding the persistence of coccolithophores through at least 220 million years of changing global environments, and their prospects for current environmental change. So far the responses examined have been at the level of acclimation rather than adaptation in evolution. Variation in results of CO 2 manipulation experiments can be tentatively attributed to variation among genotypes rather than differences in experimental procedure. Comparisons of methods using the same genotype, and of several genotypes using a single method, suggest significant variation among genotypes. The general response is a decreased particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) to particulate organic carbon (POC) ratio in higher than present CO 2 concentrations and vice versa for lower CO 2 concentrations. Fewer studies have investigated the effect of other environmental factors. Decreased availability of phosphorus and, to a lesser extent, nitrogen, as well as decreasing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) down to a certain low value increase PIC:POC, while variable results have been found for changes in ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Many of these results can be accommodated by considering the restriction of calcification to the G1 phase of the cell cycle and the length of this phase under different growth conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the interactions among environmental factors which change with increased CO 2 and increasing sea surface temperature; the shoaling of the thermocline will increase the mean PAR and UVR whilst decreasing nitrogen and phosphorus availability. More studies of these interactions, as well as of genetic adaptation in response to changed environmental factors, are needed.

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“…The Cenozoic fossil record for planktic Foraminifera is among the most well resolved for any group in terms of both taxonomic and temporal resolution owing to: high abundance and global ubiquity in marine pelagic zones (18), high preservation potential of their calcium carbonate shells in marine sediments, extensive spatial and temporal coverage of sampling, and a consistent and well-established system of taxonomic classification (24).…”

Section: Evaluating Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the role of cladogenesis in macroevolution by integrating fossil and molecular evidence

Strotz

Allen

2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Assessing the extent to which population subdivision during cladogenesis is necessary for long-term phenotypic evolution is of fundamental importance in a broad range of biological disciplines. Differentiating cladogenesis from anagenesis, defined as evolution within a species, has generally been hampered by dating precision, insufficient fossil data, and difficulties in establishing a direct link between morphological changes detectable in the fossil record and biological species. Here we quantify the relative frequencies of cladogenesis and anagenesis for macroperforate planktic Foraminifera, which arguably have the most complete fossil record currently available, to address this question. Analyzing this record in light of molecular evidence, while taking into account the precision of fossil dating techniques, we estimate that the fraction of speciation events attributable to anagenesis is <19% during the Cenozoic era (last 65 Myr) and <10% during the Neogene period (last 23 Myr). Our central conclusion-that cladogenesis is the predominant mode by which new planktic Foraminifera taxa become established at macroevolutionary time scales-differs markedly from the conclusion reached in a recent study based solely on fossil data. These disparate findings demonstrate that interpretations of macroevolutionary dynamics in the fossil record can be fundamentally altered in light of genetic evidence. anagenesis, which occurs within a species, and cladogenesis, which occurs during speciation and results in the subdivision of a species into two reproductively isolated, independently evolving taxa (1, 2). Distinguishing between these modes is essential to determining the role of population subdivision in evolutionary dynamics (3,4). This topic has received considerable attention in paleontology (1, 2), perhaps because the fossil record provides the only direct record of long-term morphological change (5), but its importance extends to other biological disciplines. For example, in population genetics, models only predict that phenotypic change is contingent upon or associated with the evolution of reproductive isolation under specific circumstances (3). Thus, a primary role for cladogenesis may highlight the importance of particular speciation modes (2), metapopulations dynamics (6), or adaptive peaks in fitness landscapes (7,8). In community ecology, both evolutionary modes may influence biodiversity, but the mechanisms differ: only cladogenesis results in an increase in diversity (9-11), but anagenesis may help maintain diversity if it results in niche differences that facilitate species coexistence (12, 13).Remarkably few studies have attempted to quantify the relative frequencies of anagenesis and cladogenesis for entire species assemblages (e.g., refs. 5, 14, 15). Addressing this question is challenging due to insufficient fossil data for most taxa and the difficulties in relating morphological change to genetic divergence and the evolution of reproductive isolation (16). Fossil data can only be used to distinguish anag...

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Assessing the Contribution of Foraminiferan Protists to Global Ocean Carbonate Production¹

Cited by 175 publications

References 43 publications

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Environmental controls on coccolithophore calcification

Assessing the role of cladogenesis in macroevolution by integrating fossil and molecular evidence

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Assessing the Contribution of Foraminiferan Protists to Global Ocean Carbonate Production1

Cited by 175 publications

References 43 publications

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

Environmental controls on coccolithophore calcification

Assessing the role of cladogenesis in macroevolution by integrating fossil and molecular evidence

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Resources

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Assessing the Contribution of Foraminiferan Protists to Global Ocean Carbonate Production¹