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Mángano MG, Buatois LA, Piñuela L, Volkenborn N, Rodríguez-Tovar FJ, García-Ramos JC. Jurassic paleosurfaces with fecal mounds reveal the last supper of arenicolid worms. Sci Rep 2024; 14:709. [PMID: 38184722 PMCID: PMC10771522 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-51103-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Exceptional paleosurfaces preserving fecal casting mounds occur in the Upper Jurassic Lastres Formation of Spain. As in modern shorelines, these biogenic structures are associated with straight to sinuous-crested ripples showing the interplay of biological and physical processes in a low-energy marine environment. These trace fossils display characteristics, distribution, and densities like those of modern arenicolid populations (approximately 35 specimens per m2). Under close examination, these fecal casting mounds are morphologically undistinguishable from those produced by recent arenicolids (e.g. Arenicola marina, Abarenicola pacifica), providing evidence of the presence of these polychaetes in the Late Jurassic. As their modern counterparts, fossil arenicolids very likely modified their environment generating a seabed topography and impacting ancient benthic communities, sediment characteristics, and sediment biogeochemistry. Although the presence of oxic microhabitats and biogeochemical processes cannot be accurately measured in the fossil record, comparison with the work of modern populations allows to make inferences on sediment reworking and bioirrigation potential. In addition, association with grazing trails supports the idea of fertilization and modulation of food resources to other species. These paleosurfaces underscore the significance of high-fidelity snapshots in the fossil record (true substrates) to reconstruct past ecologies and sediment biogeochemistry. A new ichnotaxon, Cumulusichnus asturiensis n. igen. and n. isp., is defined.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gabriela Mángano
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada.
| | - Luis A Buatois
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada
| | - Laura Piñuela
- Museo del Jurásico de Asturias (MUJA), 33328, Colunga, Asturias, Spain
| | - Nils Volkenborn
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
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Cribb AT, van de Velde SJ, Berelson WM, Bottjer DJ, Corsetti FA. Ediacaran-Cambrian bioturbation did not extensively oxygenate sediments in shallow marine ecosystems. GEOBIOLOGY 2023; 21:435-453. [PMID: 36815223 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The radiation of bioturbation during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition has long been hypothesized to have oxygenated sediments, triggering an expansion of the habitable benthic zone and promoting increased infaunal tiering in early Paleozoic benthic communities. However, the effects of bioturbation on sediment oxygen are underexplored with respect to the importance of biomixing and bioirrigation, two bioturbation processes which can have opposite effects on sediment redox chemistry. We categorized trace fossils from the Ediacaran and Terreneuvian as biomixing or bioirrigation fossils and integrated sedimentological proxies for bioturbation intensity with biogeochemical modeling to simulate oxygen penetration depths through the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Ultimately, we find that despite dramatic increases in ichnodiversity in the Terreneuvian, biomixing remains the dominant bioturbation behavior, and in contrast to traditional assumptions, Ediacaran-Cambrian bioturbation was unlikely to have resulted in extensive oxygenation of shallow marine sediments globally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison T Cribb
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sebastiaan J van de Velde
- Department of Geosciences, Environment and Society, Universté Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
| | - William M Berelson
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - David J Bottjer
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Frank A Corsetti
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Bayet-Goll A, Buatois LA, Mángano MG, Daraei M. The interplay of environmental constraints and bioturbation on matground development along the marine depositional profile during the Ordovician Radiation. GEOBIOLOGY 2022; 20:233-270. [PMID: 34672404 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This study documents the distribution of matgrounds in a wide variety of environments recorded in the Ordovician Lashkerak and Ghelli Formations in the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran in order to evaluate controls on their distribution along the marine depositional profile. Detailed facies analysis allowed differentiating three groups of facies associations in the Lower to Upper Ordovician deposits of the Lashkerak formation: (i) estuarine system; (ii) wave-dominated shoreface-offshore complex; and (iii) mixed river- and wave-influenced deltaic system. The Middle to Upper Ordovician deposits of the Ghelli formation are divided into two groups of facies associations: (i) tide-influenced deltaic succession and (ii) deep-water fan system. Microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) are present in deposits formed in the central estuarine basin (Lashkerak formation) and in proximal lobes and lobe fringes of deep-water turbidite fans (Ghelli formation). On the contrary, MISS are absent in deposits from the wave-dominated shoreface-offshore complex, river- and tide-dominated deltas, and various subenvironments of the incised wave-dominated estuary (i.e., bayhead delta and estuary mouth) and the deep-marine turbidite fan system (i.e., turbidite channel, slope, and outer lobe). The lack of evidence of mat-building microorganisms in the deltaic systems may have resulted from two factors: (1) high physico-chemical stressors caused by river-induced processes, and (2) increase in degree of sediment disturbance, biodiffusion, and bioirrigation by burrowing organisms. Formation of microbial mats in the wave-dominated shoreface-offshore complex was inhibited by the activity of an abundant and diverse infauna capable of reworking the sediment. Our analysis shows that the spatial distribution of microbial mats was controlled by an interplay of environmental factors and innovations in animal-substrate interactions, mostly expressed by secular changes in bioturbation. This study supports the notion that the agronomic revolution was diachronic, with marginal-marine and deep-sea ecosystems lagging behind shallow-marine settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aram Bayet-Goll
- Department of Earth Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran
| | - Luis A Buatois
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
| | | | - Mehdi Daraei
- Department of Earth Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran
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Area-Wide Prediction of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Hole Density and Depth across a Climate Gradient in Chile Based on UAV and Machine Learning. DRONES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/drones5030086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Burrowing animals are important ecosystem engineers affecting soil properties, as their burrowing activity leads to the redistribution of nutrients and soil carbon sequestration. The magnitude of these effects depends on the spatial density and depth of such burrows, but a method to derive this type of spatially explicit data is still lacking. In this study, we test the potential of using consumer-oriented UAV RGB imagery to determine the density and depth of holes created by burrowing animals at four study sites along a climate gradient in Chile, by combining UAV data with empirical field plot observations and machine learning techniques. To enhance the limited spectral information in RGB imagery, we derived spatial layers representing vegetation type and height and used landscape textures and diversity to predict hole parameters. Across-site models for hole density generally performed better than those for depth, where the best-performing model was for the invertebrate hole density (R2 = 0.62). The best models at individual study sites were obtained for hole density in the arid climate zone (R2 = 0.75 and 0.68 for invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively). Hole depth models only showed good to fair performance. Regarding predictor importance, the models heavily relied on vegetation height, texture metrics, and diversity indices.
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Mángano MG, Buatois LA. The rise and early evolution of animals: where do we stand from a trace-fossil perspective? Interface Focus 2020; 10:20190103. [PMID: 32642049 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The trace-fossil record provides a wealth of information to track the rise and early evolution of animals. It comprises the activity of both hard- and soft-bodied organisms, is continuous through the Ediacaran (635-539 Ma)- Cambrian (539-485 Ma) transition, yields insights into animal behaviour and their role as ecosystem engineers, and allows for a more refined characterization of palaeoenvironmental context. In order to unravel macroevolutionary signals from the trace-fossil record, a variety of approaches is available, including not only estimation of degree of bioturbation, but also analysis of ichnodiversity and ichnodisparity trajectories, and evaluation of the occupation of infaunal ecospace and styles of ecosystem engineering. Analysis of the trace-fossil record demonstrates the presence of motile benthic bilaterians in the Ediacaran, mostly feeding from biofilms. Although Ediacaran trace fossils are simple and emplaced at or immediately below the sediment surface, an increase in ichnofossil complexity, predation pressure, sediment disturbance and penetration depth is apparent during the terminal Ediacaran. Regardless of this increase, a dramatic rise in trace fossil diversity and disparity took place during the earliest Cambrian, underscoring that the novelty of the Fortunian (539-529 Ma) cannot be underestimated. The Fortunian still shows the persistence of an Ediacaran-style matground ecology, but is fundamentally characterized by the appearance of new trace-fossil architectural plans reflecting novel ways of interacting with the substrate. The appearance of Phanerozoic-style benthic ecosystems attests to an increased length and connectivity of the food web and improved efficiency in organic carbon transfer and nutrient recycling. A profound reorganization of the infaunal ecospace is recorded in both high-energy sand-dominated nearshore areas and low-energy mud-dominated offshore environments, during the early Cambrian, starting approximately during Cambrian Age 2 (529-521 Ma), but continuing during the rest of the early Cambrian. A model comprising four evolutionary phases is proposed to synthetize information from the Ediacaran-Cambrian trace-fossil record. The use of a rich ichnological toolbox; critical, systematic and comprehensive evaluation of the Ediacaran-Cambrian trace-fossil record; and high-resolution integration of the ichnological dataset and sedimentological information show that the advent of biogenic mixing was an important factor in fully marine environments at the dawn of the Phanerozoic.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gabriela Mángano
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E2
| | - Luis A Buatois
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5E2
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The effects of marine eukaryote evolution on phosphorus, carbon and oxygen cycling across the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transition. Emerg Top Life Sci 2018; 2:267-278. [PMID: 32412617 PMCID: PMC7289021 DOI: 10.1042/etls20170156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Revised: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
A ‘Neoproterozoic oxygenation event’ is widely invoked as a causal factor in animal evolution, and often attributed to abiotic causes such as post-glacial pulses of phosphorus weathering. However, recent evidence suggests a series of transient ocean oxygenation events ∼660–520 Ma, which do not fit the simple model of a monotonic rise in atmospheric oxygen (pO2). Hence, we consider mechanisms by which the evolution of marine eukaryotes, coupled with biogeochemical and ecological feedbacks, potentially between alternate stable states, could have caused changes in ocean carbon cycling and redox state, phosphorus cycling and atmospheric pO2. We argue that the late Tonian ocean ∼750 Ma was dominated by rapid microbial cycling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) with elevated nutrient (P) levels due to inefficient removal of organic matter to sediments. We suggest the abrupt onset of the eukaryotic algal biomarker record ∼660–640 Ma was linked to an escalation of protozoan predation, which created a ‘biological pump’ of sinking particulate organic matter (POM). The resultant transfer of organic carbon (Corg) and phosphorus to sediments was strengthened by subsequent eukaryotic innovations, including the advent of sessile benthic animals and mobile burrowing animals. Thus, each phase of eukaryote evolution tended to lower P levels and oxygenate the ocean on ∼104 year timescales, but by decreasing Corg/P burial ratios, tended to lower atmospheric pO2 and deoxygenate the ocean again on ∼106 year timescales. This can help explain the transient nature and ∼106 year duration of oceanic oxygenation events through the Cryogenian–Ediacaran–Cambrian.
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Cozzoli F, Bouma TJ, Ottolander P, Lluch MS, Ysebaert T, Herman PMJ. The combined influence of body size and density on cohesive sediment resuspension by bioturbators. Sci Rep 2018; 8:3831. [PMID: 29497095 PMCID: PMC5832813 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22190-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 02/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We propose an empirical framework to scale the effects of bioturbation on sediment resuspension to population bioturbation activity, approximated as population metabolic rate. Individual metabolic rates have been estimated as functions of body size and extrapolated to population level. We used experimental flumes to test this approach across different types of marine, soft-sediment bioturbators. We observed that a large part of the variance in biota-mediated sediment resuspension can be explained by a positive relationship with population metabolic rate. Other mechanisms can strongly influence the outcome, such as bioturbation of deep sediment strata, biotic interactions with hydrodynamic stress and overlapping areas of influence must be further investigated. By relating the biota-mediated changes in resuspended sediment to metabolism, we can place our observations within the broader context of the metabolic theory of ecology and to formulate general expectations about changes in biota-mediated sediment resuspension in response to changes in population structure and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Cozzoli
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands.
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Centro Ecotekne Pal. B S.P. 6, Lecce, Monteroni, Lecce, Italy.
| | - Tjeerd J Bouma
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands
| | - Pauline Ottolander
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Salvador Lluch
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands
| | - Tom Ysebaert
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands
- Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES), Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter M J Herman
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University, Yerseke, The Netherlands
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