Paleoecological implications of cohort survivorship for Mya arenaria in Massachusetts estuarine waters

摘要: A number of recent studies cast doubt on the reliability using size-frequency distributions fossil species for inferring ecological age-survivorship curves, community structure, and paleoenvironments. Survivorship curves taxa are really post-larval size-survivorship curves. Data lacking normally enormous mortalities that occur during larval stages. Such represent effects differential taphonomy upon various size classes. Before dismissing paleoecological application survivorship curving, patterns sizefrequency very large spatially disparate populations extant should be explored. Emphasis to date has been temporal, not spatial, averaging in generation assemblages. We provide reconstructed over 2.5 million live individuals infaunal bivalve Mya arenaria from 1, 093 collecting sites at 15 locations within four estuaries eastern Massachusetts. significant difference was found among cohort structures M. estuaries, even though environmental settings were similar. summary curve constructed may analogous extensive (but perhaps unlikely) spatial a assemblage. The exhibit considerable variation curve. This supports contention data gleaned contexts only applied record with extreme caution.