Persistent ecological shifts in marine molluscan assemblages across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

ABSTRACT: Contemporary biodiversity loss and population declines threaten to push the biosphere toward a tipping point with irreversible effects on ecosystem composition and function. As a potential example of a global-scale regime shift in the geological past, we assessed ecological changes across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction based on molluscan assemblages at four well-studied sites. By contrasting preextinction and postextinction rank abundance and numerical abundance in 19 molluscan modes of life--each defined as a unique combination of mobility level, feeding mode, and position relative to the substrate--we find distinct shifts in ecospace utilization, which significantly exceed predictions from null models. The magnitude of change in functional traits relative to normal temporal fluctuati

SUBMITTER: Aberhan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4466711 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature