Ecology

Abstract

The dynamic interaction of individual organisms and populations with the physical and biotic components of the marine environment is of central importance in understanding the manifold characteristics of oceanic ecosystems. This includes the productivity of the oceans, the factors governing the distribution and range of organisms in a geographic region, the abundance and fecundity of species, the pattern of energy flow through the marine ecosystem, and the analysis of fossil remains in reconstructing ancient environments and interpreting the history of the Earth. Planktonic foraminifera are of special significance in the study of modern and ancient marine ecosystems owing to their widespread occurrence in modern oceans, with rather clearly defined faunal provinces for many species, and the fact that they produce calcitic shells that contribute substantially to the micro-fossil faunal record. Indeed, planktonic foraminifera and coccolithophorids, and in conjunction with siliceous fossil diatoms and radiolaria, provide one of the most continuous and clearly interpretable fossil records used in reconstructing the climatic, ecological and geological history of the earth (e.g. CLIMAP, 1976; Berger, 1979a-c; Lipps, 1979; Berger et al., 1981; Vincent and Berger, 1981; Ehrmann and Thiede, 1985; Ruddiman and Sarnthein, 1986; Boersma et al., 1987).