Abstract
Abstract. Fossil ostracods have been widely used for Quaternary paleoenvironmental reconstructions, especially in marginal marine environments (e.g., for water depth, temperature, salinity, oxygen levels, pollution). But our knowledge of indicator species autoecology, the base of paleoenvironmental reconstructions, remains limited and commonly lacks robust statistical support and comprehensive comparison with environmental data. We analyzed marginal marine ostracod taxa at 52 sites in Hong Kong for which comprehensive environmental data are available. We applied linear regression models to reveal relationships between species distribution and environmental factors for 18 common taxa (mainly species, a few genera) in our Hong Kong dataset and identified indicator species of environmental parameters. For example, Sinocytheridea impressa, a widely distributed euryhaline species throughout the East and South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific, indicates eutrophication and bottom-water hypoxia. Neomonoceratina delicata, a widely known species from nearshore and estuarine environments in the East and South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific, indicates heavy metal pollution and increased turbidity. The 18 taxa used for this study are widely distributed geographically and divided into the following groups: widespread (throughout the northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions), temperate (South China Sea to Russia (Sea of Japan coast) and Japan), subtropical (Indo-Pacific to the East China Sea), tropical (Indo-Pacific and South China Sea), and globally distributed. With statistical support from ecological modeling and comprehensive environmental data, these results provide a robust baseline for ostracod-based Quaternary–Anthropocene paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the tropical–extratropical northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific. Highlights. We provide a robust baseline for ostracod-based (microscopic Arthropods) paleoenvironmental reconstructions from Quaternary and Anthropocene marginal marine sediments. The studied species have wide distributions over the tropics and extratropics of the northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific. Ecological modeling has established ostracod species as reliable indicators for paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
Highlights
Because of their small size, high abundance, and excellent fossil record, fossil ostracods have been widely used to reconstruct Quaternary environmental conditions including water depth, salinity, temperature, oxygen, and pollution, especially in marginal marine sediments (Boomer and Eisenhauer, 2002; Cronin, 2015; Frenzel and Boomer, 2005; Horne et al, 2012; Ruiz et al, 2005)
This study allows for the autoecology and statistical evaluation of common tropical and extratropical species, providing a baseline for ostracod-based shallowmarine paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions
We explored linear dependencies by computing variance inflation factors (VIFs) (Legendre and Legendre, 1998) and pairwise correlations between predictor variables to assess whether multicollinearity was likely to influence regression results (Yasuhara et al, 2012b)
Summary
Because of their small size, high abundance, and excellent fossil record, fossil ostracods (microcrustaceans) have been widely used to reconstruct Quaternary environmental conditions including water depth, salinity, temperature, oxygen, and pollution, especially in marginal marine sediments (Boomer and Eisenhauer, 2002; Cronin, 2015; Frenzel and Boomer, 2005; Horne et al, 2012; Ruiz et al, 2005). Many have evaluated the autoecology of ostracod indicator species as the basis for paleoenvironmental reconstructions (Hazel, 1988; Irizuki et al, 2003; Ozawa et al, 2004; Stepanova et al, 2003; Wang et al, 1988; Yasuhara and Seto, 2006; Zhao, 1984; Zhao and Wang, 1988a, b) These studies tend to focus on only one or a few targeted environmental factor(s) and lack rigorous statistical evaluation, statistical modeling, a common approach in contemporary ecology. Hong Kong constitutes an ideal location for a marine ecological modeling approach in the northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions because of an extensive and intensive marine environmental monitoring program and a subtropical location where tropical and temperate species coexist This program provides robust datasets for ecological modeling, and the subtropical location allows for the investigation of species with different latitudinal and geographical distributions. This study allows for the autoecology and statistical evaluation of common tropical and extratropical species, providing a baseline for ostracod-based shallowmarine paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the northwestern Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions
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