The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Benthic Foraminiferal Biogeography: Controls on Global Distribution Patterns in Deep-Water Settings

Benthic Foraminiferal Biogeography: Controls on Global Distribution Patterns in Deep-Water Settings
Benthic Foraminiferal Biogeography: Controls on Global Distribution Patterns in Deep-Water Settings
Benthic foraminifera, shell-bearing protists, are familiar from geological studies. Although many species are well known, undescribed single-chambered forms are common in the deep sea. Coastal and sublittoral species often have restricted distributions, but wide ranges are more frequent among deep-water species, particularly at abyssal depths. This probably reflects the transport of tiny propagules by currents across ocean basins that present few insurmountable barriers to dispersal, combined with slow rates of evolution. Undersampling of the vast deep-sea habitat, however, makes it very difficult to establish the ranges of less common foraminiferal species, and endemism may be more prevalent than currently realized. On continental slopes, some species have restricted distributions, but wide-ranging bathyal species that exhibit considerable morphological variation are more common. This may be linked to the greater heterogeneity of continental slopes compared with oceans basins. Improved knowledge of deep-sea foraminiferal biogeography requires sound morphology-based taxonomy combined with molecular genetic studies.
1941-1405
237-262
Gooday, Andrew J.
d9331d67-d518-4cfb-baed-9df3333b05b9
Jorissen, Frans J.
20c74c9c-c655-463a-8abc-1cd7cbe30318
Gooday, Andrew J.
d9331d67-d518-4cfb-baed-9df3333b05b9
Jorissen, Frans J.
20c74c9c-c655-463a-8abc-1cd7cbe30318

Gooday, Andrew J. and Jorissen, Frans J. (2012) Benthic Foraminiferal Biogeography: Controls on Global Distribution Patterns in Deep-Water Settings. Annual Review of Marine Science, 4 (1), 237-262. (doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-120709-142737).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Benthic foraminifera, shell-bearing protists, are familiar from geological studies. Although many species are well known, undescribed single-chambered forms are common in the deep sea. Coastal and sublittoral species often have restricted distributions, but wide ranges are more frequent among deep-water species, particularly at abyssal depths. This probably reflects the transport of tiny propagules by currents across ocean basins that present few insurmountable barriers to dispersal, combined with slow rates of evolution. Undersampling of the vast deep-sea habitat, however, makes it very difficult to establish the ranges of less common foraminiferal species, and endemism may be more prevalent than currently realized. On continental slopes, some species have restricted distributions, but wide-ranging bathyal species that exhibit considerable morphological variation are more common. This may be linked to the greater heterogeneity of continental slopes compared with oceans basins. Improved knowledge of deep-sea foraminiferal biogeography requires sound morphology-based taxonomy combined with molecular genetic studies.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2012
Organisations: Marine Biogeochemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 301340
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/301340
ISSN: 1941-1405
PURE UUID: 7d7885ea-d0a3-4f73-9ef2-53882098a5bc

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Feb 2012 17:13
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:29

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Andrew J. Gooday
Author: Frans J. Jorissen

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×