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| Titel |
Lunar periodicity in the shell flux of planktonic foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico |
| VerfasserIn |
L. Jonkers, C. E. Reynolds, J. Richey, I. R. Hall |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1726-4170
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 12, no. 10 ; Nr. 12, no. 10 (2015-05-27), S.3061-3070 |
| Datensatznummer |
250117948
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-12-3061-2015.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Synchronised reproduction offers clear benefits to planktonic foraminifera –
an important group of marine calcifiers – as it increases the chances of
successful gamete fusion. Such synchrony requires tuning to an internal or
external clock. Evidence exists for lunar reproductive cycles in some
species, but its recognition in shell flux time series has proven difficult,
raising questions about reproductive strategies. Using spectral analysis of
a 4-year time series (mostly at weekly resolution) from the northern Gulf of
Mexico, we show that the shell flux of Globorotalia menardii, Globigerinella
siphonifera, Orbulina universa, Globigerinoides sacculifer, Globigerinoides
ruber (both pink and white
varieties), Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globigerinella
calida and Globigerinita glutinata is characterised by lunar periodicity. However, the
lunar rhythm is not present in all size fractions of each species and tends
to be more dominant in the flux of larger shells, consistent with
reproduction being more prevalent in larger specimens. Lunar periodicity is
superimposed on longer term/seasonal changes in the shell fluxes, but
accounts for a significant part of the variance in the fluxes. The amplitude
of the lunar cycle increases roughly proportional with the magnitude of the
flux, demonstrating that most of the population is indeed affected by
lunar-phased synchronisation. In most species peak fluxes occur
predominantly around, or just after, full moon. Only G. siphonifera and G. calida show a contrasting
pattern with peaks concentrated around new moon. Although the exact cause of
the synchronisation remains elusive, our data considerably increase the
number of species for which lunar synchronised reproduction is reported and
suggest that such reproductive behaviour is common in many species of
planktonic foraminifera. |
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