(Table 2) Planktic foraminifera and their diversity indices of sediment surface samples from the Atlantic Ocean ...

• Main Authors: Al-Sabouni, Nadia, Kucera, Michal, Schmidt, Daniela N
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data 2007
• Subjects: Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/aps97u; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/701bb14e-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a

Species distribution patterns in planktonic foraminiferal assemblages are fundamental to the understanding of the determinants of their ecology. Until now, data used to identify such distribution patterns was mainly acquired using the standard >150 µm sieve size. However, given that assemblage shell size-range in planktonic foraminifera is not constant, this data acquisition practice could introduce artefacts in the distributional data. Here, we investigated the link between assemblage shell size-range and diversity in Recent planktonic foraminifera by analysing multiple sieve-size fractions in 12 samples spanning all bioprovinces of the Atlantic Ocean. Using five diversity indices covering various aspects of community structure, we found that counts from the >63 µm fraction in polar oceans and the >125 µm elsewhere sufficiently approximate maximum diversity in all Recent assemblages. Diversity values based on counts from the >150 µm fraction significantly underestimate maximum diversity in the ...