Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation
Salt-marsh foraminifera are sea-level proxies used to quantitatively reconstruct Holocene paleo-marsh elevations (PME) and subsequently relative sea level (RSL). The reliability of these reconstructions is partly dependent upon counting enough foraminifera to accurately characterize assemblages, whi...
Published in: | Journal of Foraminiferal Research |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2020
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Online Access: | https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba 2024-09-15T18:20:19+00:00 Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation Kemp, Andrew C. Wright, Alexander J. Cahill, Niamh 2020-07 https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Kemp , A C , Wright , A J & Cahill , N 2020 , ' Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation ' , Journal of Foraminiferal Research , vol. 50 , no. 3 , pp. 266-278 . https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2020 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 2024-08-29T00:18:48Z Salt-marsh foraminifera are sea-level proxies used to quantitatively reconstruct Holocene paleo-marsh elevations (PME) and subsequently relative sea level (RSL). The reliability of these reconstructions is partly dependent upon counting enough foraminifera to accurately characterize assemblages, while counting fewer tests allows more samples to be processed. We test the influence of count size on PME reconstructions by repeatedly subsampling foraminiferal as-semblages preserved in a core of salt-marsh peat (from Newfoundland, Canada) with unusually large counts (up to 1595). Application of a single, weighted-averaging transfer function developed from a regional-scale modern training set to these ecologically-plausible simulated assemblages gener-ated PME reconstructions at count sizes of 10-700. Recon-structed PMEs stabilize at counts sizes greater than ~50 and counts exceeding ~250 tests show little return for the additional time invested. The absence of some rare taxa in low counts is unlikely to markedly influence results from weighted-averaging transfer functions. Subsampling of mod-ern foraminifera indicates that cross-validated transfer func-tion performance shows only modest improvement when more than ~40 foraminifera are counted. Studies seeking to understand multi-meter and millennial scale RSL trends should count more than ~50 tests. The precision sought by studies aiming to resolve decimeter- and decadal-scale RSL variability is best achieved with counts greater than ~75. In most studies seeking to reconstruct PME, effort is more productively allocated by counting relatively fewer foraminifera in more core samples than in counting large numbers of individuals. Target count sizes of 100-300 in existing studies are likely conservative and robust. Given the low diversity of salt-marsh foraminiferal assemblages, our results are likely applicable throughout and beyond northeastern North America. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Journal of Foraminiferal Research 50 3 266 278 |
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Open Polar |
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal |
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ftvuamstcris |
language |
English |
topic |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water Kemp, Andrew C. Wright, Alexander J. Cahill, Niamh Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
Salt-marsh foraminifera are sea-level proxies used to quantitatively reconstruct Holocene paleo-marsh elevations (PME) and subsequently relative sea level (RSL). The reliability of these reconstructions is partly dependent upon counting enough foraminifera to accurately characterize assemblages, while counting fewer tests allows more samples to be processed. We test the influence of count size on PME reconstructions by repeatedly subsampling foraminiferal as-semblages preserved in a core of salt-marsh peat (from Newfoundland, Canada) with unusually large counts (up to 1595). Application of a single, weighted-averaging transfer function developed from a regional-scale modern training set to these ecologically-plausible simulated assemblages gener-ated PME reconstructions at count sizes of 10-700. Recon-structed PMEs stabilize at counts sizes greater than ~50 and counts exceeding ~250 tests show little return for the additional time invested. The absence of some rare taxa in low counts is unlikely to markedly influence results from weighted-averaging transfer functions. Subsampling of mod-ern foraminifera indicates that cross-validated transfer func-tion performance shows only modest improvement when more than ~40 foraminifera are counted. Studies seeking to understand multi-meter and millennial scale RSL trends should count more than ~50 tests. The precision sought by studies aiming to resolve decimeter- and decadal-scale RSL variability is best achieved with counts greater than ~75. In most studies seeking to reconstruct PME, effort is more productively allocated by counting relatively fewer foraminifera in more core samples than in counting large numbers of individuals. Target count sizes of 100-300 in existing studies are likely conservative and robust. Given the low diversity of salt-marsh foraminiferal assemblages, our results are likely applicable throughout and beyond northeastern North America. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kemp, Andrew C. Wright, Alexander J. Cahill, Niamh |
author_facet |
Kemp, Andrew C. Wright, Alexander J. Cahill, Niamh |
author_sort |
Kemp, Andrew C. |
title |
Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
title_short |
Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
title_full |
Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
title_fullStr |
Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
title_sort |
enough is enough, or more is more? testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 https://hdl.handle.net/1871.1/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85097220874&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Kemp , A C , Wright , A J & Cahill , N 2020 , ' Enough is enough, or more is more? Testing the influence of foraminiferal count size on reconstructions of paleo-marsh elevation ' , Journal of Foraminiferal Research , vol. 50 , no. 3 , pp. 266-278 . https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 |
op_relation |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/9213d2dd-c667-4162-a5f8-5a6e23e18eba |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.3.266 |
container_title |
Journal of Foraminiferal Research |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
266 |
op_container_end_page |
278 |
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1810458701074530304 |