Radiolarian Biogeography in Oceanic Ecosystems
Summary
Radiolarians are siliceous, planktonic protozoa that inhabit a wide range of oceanic environments, from equatorial gyres to polar margins. Their distribution patterns are governed by temperature gradients, nutrient availability and major current systems, resulting in distinct assemblages that reflect water mass properties and productivity regimes. Modern biogeographic studies employ comprehensive census datasets and advanced statistical methods to map species diversity and provinciality across latitudinal and longitudinal transects. In the fossil record, shifts in radiolarian assemblages document past oceanographic changes, providing high-resolution proxies for palaeotemperature, sea-level fluctuations and circulation reorganisations. Integration of modern and palaeo data elucidates mechanisms of dispersal, endemism and evolutionary turnover, while also revealing diachronous bioevents that mark regional responses to global climatic shifts. Insights into radiolarian biogeography underpin reconstructions of carbon cycling, ecosystem resilience and biogeochemical feedbacks in a warming ocean. This synthesis highlights the global significance of radiolarian distribution patterns for understanding both contemporary marine biodiversity and the long-term dynamics of oceanic ecosystems.
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Radiolarian Biogeography in Oceanic Ecosystems publication trend
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Technical terms
Radiolarian: Siliceous, planktonic protozoa whose skeletons accumulate in marine sediments and serve as proxies for past and present ocean conditions.
Biogeography: The study of spatial distribution patterns of organisms and the environmental factors that shape those patterns.
Bioevent: A significant occurrence in the fossil record, such as the first or last appearance of a species, used to correlate strata across regions.
Diachronism: The phenomenon whereby the same geological or biological event occurs at different times in different locations, indicating regional asynchrony.
References
- The Southern Ocean Radiolarian (SO-RAD) dataset: a new compilation of modern radiolarian census data. Earth System Science Data (2021).
- Astronomical calibration of late middle Eocene radiolarian bioevents from ODP Site 1260 (equatorial Atlantic, Leg 207) and refinement of the global tropical radiolarian biozonation. Journal of Micropalaeontology (2022).
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