Table 1: Soil chemical properties of the analysed depth profiles in the Venice lagoon

Visual traces of iron reduction and oxidation are linked to the redox status of soils and have been used to characterise the quality of agricultural soils.We tested whether this feature could also be used to explain the spatial pattern of the natural vegetation of tidal habitats. If so, an easy assessment of the effect of rising sea level on tidal ecosystems would be possible. Our study was conducted at the salt marshes of the northern lagoon of Venice, which are strongly threatened by erosion and rising sea level and are part of the world heritage 'Venice and its lagoon'. We analysed the abundance of plant species at 255 sampling points along a land-sea gradient. In addition, we surveyed the redox morphology (presence/absence of red iron oxide mottles in the greyish topsoil horizons) of the soils and the presence of disturbances. We used indicator species analysis, correlation trees and multivariate regression trees to analyse relations between soil properties and plant species distribution. Plant species with known sensitivity to anaerobic conditions (e.g. Halimione portulacoides) were identified as indicators for oxic soils (showing iron oxide mottles within a greyish soil matrix). Plant species that tolerate a low redox potential (e.g. Spartina maritima) were identified as indicators for anoxic soils (greyish matrix without oxide mottles). Correlation trees and multivariate regression trees indicate the dominant role of the redox morphology of the soils in plant species distribution. In addition, the distance from the mainland and the presence of disturbances were identified as tree-splitting variables. The small-scale variation of oxygen availability plays a key role for the biodiversity of salt marsh ecosystems. Our results suggest that the redox morphology of salt marsh soils indicates the plant availability of oxygen. Thus, the consideration of this indicator may enable an understanding of the heterogeneity of biological processes in oxygen-limited systems and may be a sensitive and easy-to-use tool to assess human impacts on salt marsh ecosystems.

Pollen and diatom analysis on varved sediments in Lake Jues (Harz Mountains, Germany)

Studies combining sedimentological and biological evidence to reconstruct Holocene climate beyond the major changes, and especially seasonality, are rare in Europe, and are nearly completely absent in Germany. The present study tries to reconstruct changes of seasonality from evidence of annual algal successions within the framework of well-established pollen zonation and 14C-AMS dates from terrestrial plants. Laminated Holocene sediments in Lake Jues (10°20.70' E, 51°39.30' N, 241 m a.s.l.), located at the SW margin of the Harz Mountains, central Germany, were studied for sediment characteristics, pollen, diatoms and coccal green algae. An age model is based on 21 calibrated AMS radiocarbon dates from terrestrial plants. The sedimentary record covers the entire Holocene period. Trophic status and circulation/stagnation patterns of the lake were inferred from algal assemblages, the subannual structure of varves and the physico-chemical properties of the sediment. During the Holocene, mixing conditions alternated between di-, oligo- and meromictic depending on length and variability of spring and fall periods, and the stability of winter and summer weather. The trophic state was controlled by nutrient input, circulation patterns and the temperature-dependent rates of organic production and mineralization. Climate shifts, mainly in phase with those recorded from other European regions, are inferred from changing limnological conditions and terrestrial vegetation. Significant changes occurred at 11,600 cal. yr. BP (Preboreal warming), between 10,600 and 10,100 cal. yr. BP (Boreal cooling), and between 8,400 and 4,550 cal. yr. BP (warm and dry interval of the Atlantic). Since 4,550 cal. yr. BP the climate became gradually cooler, wetter and more oceanic. This trend was interrupted by warmer and dryer phases between 3,440 and 2,850 cal. yr. BP and, likely, between 2,500 and 2,250 cal. yr. BP.

Benthic foraminiferal faunas of Miocene to Holocene sediments of ODP Site 184-1143 from the southern South China Sea

Deep-sea benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1143 located in the southern South China Sea (SCS) were investigated to evaluate the relationship between faunal composition patterns and paleoceanographic changes during the last 6 million years (late Miocene to Holocene). We used multivariate statistics (correspondence analysis) to analyze carbon-flux-related changes in assemblage composition of benthic foraminifers. Additional proxies for carbon flux and deep-water ventilation include delta13C records of epifaunal Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and infaunal Uvigerina peregrina var. dirupta and Melonis pompilioides, benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates (BFARs), diversity indices, and relative abundances of indicator species. We observe three significant benthic faunal changes in the southern South China Sea during the last 6 million years. Strong fluctuations in BFAR and relative abundance of productivity indicator species between glacial and interglacial stages after the mid-Pleistocene revolution (MPR) at approximately 0.9 Ma, indicating stronger seasonal carbon flux fluctuations, are accompanied by the extinction of such species as Stilostomella spp. Increases in carbon flux indicator species are coupled with an overall decrease in benthic foraminifer diversity around 3.0 Ma in the late Pliocene. This may indicate increasing carbon flux in a period of productivity maximum caused by enhanced offshore upwelling from intensified winter monsoon wind strength.

European Leaf Physiognomic Approach ELPA

Physiognomic traits of plant leaves such as size, shape or margin are decisively affected by the prevailing environmental conditions of the plant habitat. On the other hand, if a relationship between environment and leaf physiognomy can be shown to exist, vegetation represents a proxy for environmental conditions. This study investigates the relationship between physiognomic traits of leaves from European hardwood vegetation and environmental parameters in order to create a calibration dataset based on high resolution grid cell data. The leaf data are obtained from synthetic chorologic floras, the environmental data comprise climatic and ecologic data. The high resolution of the data allows for a detailed analysis of the spatial dependencies between the investigated parameters. The comparison of environmental parameters and leaf physiognomic characters reveals a clear correlation between temperature related parameters (e.g. mean annual temperature or ground frost frequency) and the expression of leaf characters (e.g. the type of leaf margin or the base of the lamina). Precipitation related parameters (e.g. mean annual precipitation), however, show no correlation with the leaf physiognomic composition of the vegetation. On the basis of these results, transfer functions for several environmental parameters are calculated from the leaf physiognomic composition of the extant vegetation. In a next step, a cluster analysis is applied to the dataset in order to identify "leaf physiognomic communities". Several of these are distinguished, characterised and subsequently used for vegetation classification. Concerning the leaf physiognomic diversity there are precise differences between each of these "leaf physiognomic classes". There is a clear increase of leaf physiognomic diversity with increasing variability of the environmental parameters: Northern vegetation types are characterised by a more or less homogeneous leaf physiognomic composition whereas southern vegetation types like the Mediterranean vegetation show a considerable higher leaf physiognomic diversity. Finally, the transfer functions are used to estimate palaeo-environmental parameters of three fossil European leaf assemblages from Late Oligocene and Middle Miocene. The results are compared with results obtained from other palaeo-environmental reconstructing methods. The estimates based on a direct linear ordination seem to be the most realistic ones, as they are highly consistent with the Coexistence Approach.

Species name, classification (WORMS), abundance and biomass of the megabenthic communities of the Algarve

The present study analysed the megabenthic diversity in subtidal soft bottoms and assessed the main environmental drivers of megabenthic community organisation along the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). We tested the hypothesis that megabenthic communities respond to the same environmental drivers than macrofauna. We found that similar to macrofauna, megafaunal communities were organised in relation to the depth of closure, light reaching the bottom, and the hydrodynamic conditions related with exposure within the shallower areas. The influence of the main river outflow prevailed over other drivers, but only up to 9 m depth. We found that seven different spatial units should be considered, each characterised by different indicator species. Additionally, among a total of 412 taxa collected between 4 and 50 m depth, we provide the characteristics of the 64 commonest species in terms of occurrence, frequency, distribution, abundance, bathymetric and sedimentary preferences, which constitutes most valuable information for ecosystem modelling. Megabenthic alpha diversity decreased with depth, contrary to evenness and was higher in the proximity of the river Guadiana and in highly exposed shores. We conclude that the megafauna, which is significantly quicker to collect and analyse, can provide an accurate alternative to macrofauna sampling, as their communities are shaped by the same drivers.

Analysis of the reproductive system of female vampire squid

Analysis of the reproductive system of female vampire squid to determine reproductive strategy and fecundity of vampire squid, accessioned in the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and collected in 60, 70s from off southern California.

A late Quaternary planktonic foraminifer faunal record of rapid climatic changes of sediment core GIK17938-2

A high-resolution planktonic foraminifer record from a core recovered from the South China Sea (SCS) (Sonne 17938-2: 19°47.2'N, 117° 32.3E; 2840 m; Delta t c. 250-1000 years) shows rapid millennial-scale changes in the western Pacific marginal sea climate during the last 30,000 years. The SCS is the largest western Pacific marginal sea off the southeast Asian continent, the area today dominated by seasonal monsoon changes. Quantitative analyses of planktonic foraminifer faunal abundance data frorn the core indicate large downcore variations in the relative abundances of the dominant taxa since about 30,000 years ago in the isotope stage 3. Further analyses indicate that the abundance of G. inflata, a good indicator species for cold SST (~13°-19°C) and deep MLD (~100-125 m) waters shows abrupt shifts. During stages 2 and 3, the abundance record of G. infiata tends to be punctuated by quasi-periodie short intervals (~2000-3000 yrs) where its abundance reaches 15% or greater, superimposed on generally low (5-10%) background values. This pattern suggests an instability of surface ocean conditions of the SCS during the past 30,000 years. The abrupt abundance changes of G. infiata correlate well with similar climatic changes observed from a GISP2 ice core 8180, and North Atlantic core DSDP 609 N. pachyderma (s.) and lithic grain abundances during 'Heinrich evcnts'. These results suggest that the millennial-scale variability of climate is not peculiar to the Atlantic region. Apparently, the rapid SCS climatic changes during Heinrich events are driven by effective mechanisms, of particularly the effects of shifts in the latitudinal position of the Siberia High Pressure System.

The hydropolyp fauna of the Red Sea area

46 hydropolyp species of 28 genera and 10 families were sampled during the "Meteor" passage 1964/65 (IIOE) through the Red Sea and its northern and southern exits and on the occasion of several ecological investigations of 29 selected coral reef sections of the central Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. These collections comprise 128 single records of hydropolyp species. Three species and two genera each with one species are doubtful. 25 species, seven genera, one family and one subfamily, together from 49 records have not previously been found in the Red Sea and its exits. Including these newly reported species, the total list increases from 64 species and 112 records to 89 species and 240 single records and 51 additional ones. Scanning microscopical photos, made for the first time for the illustration of the hydropolyps, have been shown to be suitable for a better characterization and diagnosis of the species. Qualified results on the reasons for the horizontal distribution of the species known from the Red Sea area cannot be given because of the low number of samples sporadically distributed through the whole area. In contrast with this fact, the vertical spread of the species sampled seems primarily to be regulated by water exchange and light intensity. For example, four species of hydropolyps are excellent indicators of certain abiotic factors or combinations of them: Gymnangium eximium reacts extremely stenophote-photophobe-rheophil, Eudendrium ramosum moderately stenophote-photophobe-rheophobe, Lytocarpus philippinus moderately stenophote-photophil-rheophil, and Halocordyle disticha var. australis extremely stenophote-photophil but moderately rheophil. Other species have been found throughout all the light zones. Combined with the small size of their colonies their euryphotic behaviour does not allow their use as indicator species.

Stable isotope record and distribution of foraminifera in sediment core GeoB3004-1

Fluctuations in the abundance of selected foraminiferal indicator species and diversity allowed the reconstruction of changes in deepwater oxygenation and monsoon-driven organic matter fluxes in the deep western Arabian Sea during the last 190 kyr. Times of maximum surface production coincide with periods of intensified SW monsoon as shown by the abundance of Globigerina bulloides and enhanced carbonate corrosion. Benthic ecosystem variability in the deep Arabian Sea is not exclusively driven by variations in monsoonal upwelling and related organic matter supply to the seafloor but also by changes in deepwater ventilation. Deepening of the base of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) below 1800 m water depth is strongly coherent on the precessional band but lags proxies of SW monsoon strength by 4 to 6 kyr. The "out-of-phase" relationship between OMZ deepening and maximum SW monsoon strength is explained by temporal changes in the advection of oxygen-rich deepwater masses of North Atlantic and Antarctic origin. This process affected the remineralization and burial efficiency of organic matter in the deep Arabian Sea, resulting in the observed phase lag between maximum monsoon strength and organic carbon preservation.

Diatoms in Paleocene sediments of the southwestern South Atlantic

The taxonomy and stratigraphy of pelagic Paleocene diatoms from ODP Sites 698, 700, and 702 and DSDP Site 524 in the South Atlantic and DSDP Site 214 in the Indian Ocean are presented, as well as paleogeographic and paleoecologic implications. Eleven new species and one new variety are described and one new combination is proposed: Coscinodiscus cruxii sp. nov. Grunowiella palaeocaenica var. alternans var. nov. Hemiaulusl beatus sp. nov. Hemiaulusl ciesielskii sp. nov. Hemiaulusl conicus sp. nov. Hemiaulus kristoffersenii sp. nov. Hemiaulus nocchiae sp. nov. Hemiaulusl oonkii sp. nov. Hemiaulusl velatus sp. nov. Triceratium gombosii sp. nov. Trochosira gracillima comb. nov. Trochosira marginata sp. nov. Trochosira radiata sp. nov. Hole 700B provides one of the most continuous diatomaceous Paleocene profiles known. Stratigraphic ranges of diatom species from this and other Southern Hemisphere sites are calibrated against calcareous microfossil zones. The first-appearance datums of Triceratium gombosii, Hemiaulus incurvus, and Triceratium mirabile in Paleocene deep-sea sediments are useful for regional stratigraphic correlations. Quantitative analysis of the biosiliceous microfossil groups (diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians, and archaeomonadaceae) shows that preservation of diatoms is confined primarily to the upper Paleocene (planktonic foraminifer Zones P3 and P4 and calcareous nannofossil Zones upper NP5 to lower NP9). In the lower Paleocene only short intervals in Hole 700B are diatomaceous. A correlation between the degree of silica diagenesis and the calcium carbonate content of the sediment is not obvious. Diatom species analysis reflects changes in the paleoenvironment between island-related upwelling conditions with highly diverse and well-preserved diatom assemblages and less productive periods resulting in less wellpreserved diatom assemblages with a higher content of robust neritic diatoms.