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Effects of Climate Change On Epibiont Communities in the Neogene of Virginia
Mullins, Angela
Mullins, Angela
Abstract
An epibiont is any organism that lives in physical contact with another organism. This study compared two fossil epibiont communities that lived in a tropical and temperate environment. Samples were collected from Chesapecten sp. from the Cobham Bay and Sunken Meadow Members along the James River in eastern Virginia. The top surface of each shell was studied to identify the percent occurrence and average areal extent of total epibionts and individual epibiont species. Rarefaction curves of each community were created to quantify species richness and evenness. Percent occurrence and average areal extent both tended to be higher in the Sunken Meadow Member, which was deposited in a temperate climate. Areal extent of the colonial coral Septastrea marylandica was significantly greater in the Cobham Bay Member. The community in the Cobham Bay Member was more evenly distributed, while the community in the Sunken Meadow had a few very common epibiont taxa and many rare taxa. This study can be used to predict how modern day epibiont communities will react to the current global warming. Future studies can be done to explore how epibiont interactions, such as competition and overgrowth, changed due to climate.
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2014-01-01
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Geology