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Article Reference Biomineral Flocculation of Kaolinite and Microalgae: Laboratory Experiments and Stochastic Modeling.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Biomineralization in living hypercalcified demosponges: Toward a universal mechanism?
Massive skeletons of living hypercalcified sponges, representative organisms of basal Metazoa, are uncommon models to improve our knowledge on biomineralization mechanisms and their possible evolution through time. Eight living species belonging to various orders of Demospongiae were selected for a comparative mineralogical characterization of their aragonitic or calcitic massive basal skeleton. The latter was prepared for scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. SEM results indicated distinctive macro- and micro-structural organizations of the skeleton for each species, likely resulting from a genetically dictated variation in the control exerted on their formation. However, most skeletons investigated shared submicron to nano-scale morphological and crystallographical patterns: (1) single-crystal fibers and bundles were composed of 20 to 100nm large submicronic grains, the smallest structural units, (2) nano-scale likely organic material occurred both within and between these structural units, (3) {110} micro-twin planes were observed along aragonitic fibers, and (4) individual fibers or small bundles protruded from the external growing surface of skeletons. This comparative mineralogical study of phylogenetically distant species brings further evidence to recent biomineralization models already proposed for sponges, corals, mollusks, brachiopods and echinoderms and to the hypothesis of the universal and ancestral character of such mechanisms in Metazoa.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Biophysical flocculation of suspended particulate matters in Belgian coastal zones
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Biostratigraphic significance of brachiopods near the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary
The biostratigraphic significance of selected uppermost Famennian (Upper Devonian) and lower Tournaisian (Mississippian) brachiopod genera, belonging to the orders Rhynchonellida (e.g. Araratella), Spiriferida (e.g. Sphenospira, Prospira), Spiriferinida (Syringothyris) and Productida (except Chonetidina), is discussed. Owing to the difficulties of identifying productidine and strophalosiidine genera, in contrast to rhynchonellides and spiriferides, the biostratigraphic potential of the former has generally been overlooked. Brachiopods flourished in neritic environments that were unfavourable for conodonts and ammonoids. In the absence of the latter traditional marker fossils, they are potentially important for locating the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary in shallow water depositional settings in conjunction with rugose corals and foraminifers. On a worldwide scale, further work is required to reach a better assessment of the aftermath of the Hangenberg biological Crisis on brachiopods, notably in revising the faunas from the classical areas of the Famennian and Tournaisian stages in Western Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Biostratigraphie et poissons fossiles de la Formation de l' Argile de Boom (Oligocène moyen du Bassin belge).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Biostratigraphy of the Danian/Selandian transition in the southern Tethys. Special reference to the Lowest Occurrence of planktic foraminifera Igorina albeari.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Biotic and abiotic determinants of the formation of ant mosaics in primary Neotropical rainforests
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Biotic impact of Eocene thermal maximum 2 in a shelf setting (Dababiya, Egypt).
The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) initiated a global biotic event with major evolutionary impacts. Since a series of minor δ13C and δ18O excursions, indicative of hyperthermals, now appears to characterize early Eocene climate, it remains to be investigated how the biosphere responded to these warming events. We studied the Esna Formation at Dababiya (Nile Basin, Egypt), in order to identify Eocene thermal maximum 2 (ETM-2) and to evaluate the foraminiferal and ostracode patterns. The studied interval generally consists of gray-brown marls and shales and is interrupted by a sequence of deviating lithologies, representing an early Eocene Egyptian environmental perturbation that can be linked to ETM-2. The ETM-2 interval consists of brownish shales (bed 1) to marls (bed 2) at the base that grade into a foraminifera-rich chalky limestone (bed 3) at the top. This conspicuous white limestone bed forms the base of the Abu Had Member. A distinct negative δ13C excursion of approximately 1.6‰ is recorded encom- passing this interval and a second negative δ13C shift of 1‰ occurs 5 m higher. These two isotope events are situated respectively in the basal and lower part of the calcareous nannoplankton zone NP11 and appear to correlate with the H1 and H2(?) excursions observed in the deep-sea records. The lower δ13C excursion is associated with benthic foraminiferal and ostracode changes and settlement of impoverished anomalous foraminiferal (planktic and benthic) assemblages, indicating a transient environmental anomaly, disrupting the entire marine ecosystem during ETM-2. Our observations indicate some similarities between the sedimentary and biotic expressions of ETM-2 and the PETM at Dababiya, pointing to similar processes operating in the Egyptian Basin during these global warming events.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference BioTIME 2.0: Expanding and Improving a Database of Biodiversity Time Series
Motivation: Here, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover, we now provide an R package (BioTIMEr) to facilitate use of the database. Main Types of Variables Included: The database is composed of one main data table containing the abundance records and 11 metadata tables. The data are organised in a hierarchy of scales where 11,989,233 records are nested in 1,603,067 sample events, from 553,253 sampling locations, which are nested in 708 studies. A study is defined as a sampling methodology applied to an assemblage for a minimum of 2 years. Spatial Location and Grain: Sampling locations in BioTIME are distributed across the planet, including marine, terrestrial and freshwater realms. Spatial grain size and extent vary across studies depending on sampling methodology. We recommend gridding of sampling locations into areas of consistent size. Time Period and Grain: The earliest time series in BioTIME start in 1874, and the most recent records are from 2023. Temporal grain and duration vary across studies. We recommend doing sample-level rarefaction to ensure consistent sampling effort through time before calculating any diversity metric. Major Taxa and Level of Measurement: The database includes any eukaryotic taxa, with a combined total of 56,400 taxa. Software Format: csv and. SQL.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference ECMAScript program Bioturbation has a limited effect on phosphorus burial in salt marsh sediments
It has been hypothesized that the evolution of animals during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition stimulated the burial of phosphorus in marine sediments. This assumption is centrally based on data compilations from marine sediments deposited under oxic and anoxic bottom waters. Since anoxia excludes the presence of infauna and sediment reworking, the observed differences in P burial are assumed to be driven by the presence of bioturbators. This reasoning however ignores the potentially confounding impact of bottom-water oxygenation on phosphorus burial. Here, our goal is to test the idea that bioturbation increases the burial of organic and inorganic phosphorus (Porg and Pinorg, respectively) while accounting for bottom-water oxygenation. We present solid-phase phosphorus speciation data from salt marsh ponds with and without bioturbation (Blakeney salt marsh, Norfolk, UK). In both cases, the pond sediments are exposed to oxygenated bottom waters, and so the only difference is the presence or absence of bioturbating macrofauna. Our data reveal that the rate of Porg and Pinorg burial are indistinguishable between bioturbated and non-bioturbated sediments. A large terrestrial fraction of organic matter and higher sedimentation velocity than generally found in marine sediments (0.3 +/- 0.1 cm yr-1) may partially impact these results. However, the absence of a clear effect of bioturbation on total P burial puts into question the presumed importance of bioturbation for phosphorus burial.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021