Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment
The size structure of plankton communities is an important determinant of their functions in marine ecosystems. However, few studies have quantified how organism size varies within species across biogeographical scales. Here, we investigate how planktonic foraminifera, a ubiquitous zooplankton group...
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:445135 2023-07-30T04:06:24+02:00 Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment Rillo, Marina C. Miller, C. Giles Kucera, Michal Ezard, Thomas H. G. 2020-10-28 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/1/ece3.6792_1_.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/1/ece3.6792_1_.pdf Rillo, Marina C., Miller, C. Giles, Kucera, Michal and Ezard, Thomas H. G. (2020) Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment. Ecology and Evolution, 10 (20), 11579-11590. (doi:10.1002/ece3.v10.20 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.v10.20>). cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.v10.20 2023-07-09T22:39:32Z The size structure of plankton communities is an important determinant of their functions in marine ecosystems. However, few studies have quantified how organism size varies within species across biogeographical scales. Here, we investigate how planktonic foraminifera, a ubiquitous zooplankton group, vary in size across the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. Using a recently digitized museum collection, we measured shell area of 3,799 individuals of nine extant species in 53 seafloor sediments. We first analyzed potential size biases in the collection. Then, for each site, we obtained corresponding local values of mean annual sea‐surface temperature (SST), net primary productivity (NPP), and relative abundance of each species. Given former studies, we expected species to reach largest shell sizes under optimal environmental conditions. In contrast, we observe that species differ in how much their size variation is explained by SST, NPP, and/or relative abundance. While some species have predictable size variation given these variables (Trilobatus sacculifer, Globigerinoides conglobatus, Globigerinella siphonifera, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Globorotalia truncatulinoides), other species show no relationships between size and the studied covariates (Globigerinoides ruber, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globorotalia menardii, Globoconella inflata). By incorporating intraspecific variation and sampling broader geographical ranges compared to previous studies, we conclude that shell size variation in planktonic foraminifera species cannot be consistently predicted by the environment. Our results caution against the general use of size as a proxy for planktonic foraminifera environmental optima. More generally, our work highlights the utility of natural history collections and the importance of studying intraspecific variation when interpreting macroecological patterns. Article in Journal/Newspaper Planktonic foraminifera University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Ecology and Evolution 10 20 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
The size structure of plankton communities is an important determinant of their functions in marine ecosystems. However, few studies have quantified how organism size varies within species across biogeographical scales. Here, we investigate how planktonic foraminifera, a ubiquitous zooplankton group, vary in size across the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. Using a recently digitized museum collection, we measured shell area of 3,799 individuals of nine extant species in 53 seafloor sediments. We first analyzed potential size biases in the collection. Then, for each site, we obtained corresponding local values of mean annual sea‐surface temperature (SST), net primary productivity (NPP), and relative abundance of each species. Given former studies, we expected species to reach largest shell sizes under optimal environmental conditions. In contrast, we observe that species differ in how much their size variation is explained by SST, NPP, and/or relative abundance. While some species have predictable size variation given these variables (Trilobatus sacculifer, Globigerinoides conglobatus, Globigerinella siphonifera, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Globorotalia truncatulinoides), other species show no relationships between size and the studied covariates (Globigerinoides ruber, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globorotalia menardii, Globoconella inflata). By incorporating intraspecific variation and sampling broader geographical ranges compared to previous studies, we conclude that shell size variation in planktonic foraminifera species cannot be consistently predicted by the environment. Our results caution against the general use of size as a proxy for planktonic foraminifera environmental optima. More generally, our work highlights the utility of natural history collections and the importance of studying intraspecific variation when interpreting macroecological patterns. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rillo, Marina C. Miller, C. Giles Kucera, Michal Ezard, Thomas H. G. |
spellingShingle |
Rillo, Marina C. Miller, C. Giles Kucera, Michal Ezard, Thomas H. G. Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
author_facet |
Rillo, Marina C. Miller, C. Giles Kucera, Michal Ezard, Thomas H. G. |
author_sort |
Rillo, Marina C. |
title |
Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
title_short |
Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
title_full |
Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
title_fullStr |
Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
title_sort |
intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/1/ece3.6792_1_.pdf |
genre |
Planktonic foraminifera |
genre_facet |
Planktonic foraminifera |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/445135/1/ece3.6792_1_.pdf Rillo, Marina C., Miller, C. Giles, Kucera, Michal and Ezard, Thomas H. G. (2020) Intraspecific size variation in planktonic foraminifera cannot be consistently predicted by the environment. Ecology and Evolution, 10 (20), 11579-11590. (doi:10.1002/ece3.v10.20 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.v10.20>). |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.v10.20 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
20 |
_version_ |
1772818967605280768 |