Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (13) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bush, A. M. Articles by Daley, G. M. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Changes in theoretical ecospace utilization in marine fossil assemblages between the mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic

¹ Andrew M. Bush. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Integrative Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Road, Unit 3043, Storrs, Connecticut 06269. andrew.Bush{at}uconn.edu
² Richard K. Bambach. Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. richard.bambach{at}verizon.net
³ Gwen M. Daley. Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Geology, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733. daleyg{at}winthrop.edu

We present a new three-dimensional theoretical ecospace for the ecological classification of marine animals based on vertical tiering, motility level, and feeding mechanism. In this context, analyses of a database of level-bottom fossil assemblages with abundance counts demonstrate fundamental changes in marine animal ecosystems between the mid-Paleozoic (461–359 Ma) and late Cenozoic (23–0.01 Ma). The average local relative abundance of infaunal burrowers, facultatively motile animals, and predators increased, whereas surface dwellers and completely non-motile animals decreased in abundance. Considering tiering, motility, and feeding together, more modes of life had high to moderate average relative abundance in the Cenozoic than in the Paleozoic. These results are robust to the biasing effects of aragonite dissolution in Paleozoic sediments and to heterogeneities in the latitudinal and environmental distributions of collections. Theoretical ecospace provides a unified system for future analyses of the utilization of ecologic opportunities by marine metazoa.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. G. Harnik Unveiling rare diversity by integrating museum, literature, and field data Paleobiology, March 1, 2009; 35(2): 190 - 208. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. M. LAYOU ECOLOGICAL RESTRUCTURING AFTER EXTINCTION: THE LATE ORDOVICIAN (MOHAWKIAN) OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES Palaios, February 1, 2009; 24(2): 118 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Finnegan and M. L. Droser Body size, energetics, and the Ordovician restructuring of marine ecosystems Paleobiology, September 1, 2008; 34(3): 342 - 359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. H. Erwin Colloquium Paper: Extinction as the loss of evolutionary history PNAS, August 12, 2008; 105(Supplement_1): 11520 - 11527. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. BUSH, M. KOWALEWSKI, A. P. HOFFMEISTER, R. K. BAMBACH, and G. M. DALEY POTENTIAL PALEOECOLOGIC BIASES FROM SIZE-FILTERING OF FOSSILS: STRATEGIES FOR SIEVING Palaios, December 1, 2007; 22(6): 612 - 622. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Huntley and M. Kowalewski From the Cover: Strong coupling of predation intensity and diversity in the Phanerozoic fossil record PNAS, September 18, 2007; 104(38): 15006 - 15010. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. M. Novack-Gottshall Using a theoretical ecospace to quantify the ecological diversity of Paleozoic and modern marine biotas Paleobiology, March 1, 2007; 33(2): 273 - 294. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]