Abstract
Analysis of 164 collections from shelf facies of Laurentian North America indicates that three successive trilobite mass extinctions at Late Cambrian stage boundary intervals (“biomere” boundaries) are characterized by a common pattern of change in distributional paleoecology and species diversity. In all cases, the extinction intervals are marked by a shift to biofacies that have broader environmental distributions than those prior to the onset of extinctions, implying a reduction in between-habitat (beta) diversity. Significant declines in within-habitat (alpha) diversity also characterize each extinction and the compositions of shelf biofacies record extensive immigration of taxa from off-shelf and shelf-margin sites. The nature and extent of ecologic disruption of the shelf appears to be comparable to changes associated with major mass extinctions, such as those at the end of the Ordovician and Permian. Unlike major mass extinctions, the Cambrian events are followed by a complete recovery of diversity and biofacies structure within a few million years.
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