Compositional turnover and ecological changes related to the waxing and waning of glaciers during the late Paleozoic ice age in ice-proximal regions (Pennsylvanian, western Argentina)

Abstract

The late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA) had a profound effect on the biota. Despite much research having been focused on paleotropical regions or global-scale analyses, regional ecological changes have seldom been studied in ice-proximal basins. Here, I study the compositional turnover and diversity structure across the main Carboniferous glacial event recorded in western Argentina and the subsequent nonglacial interval. Brachiopod and bivalve data from western Argentina suggest that the transition from glacial to nonglacial climates caused major compositional changes. Turnover, however, was not uniform across the bathymetric gradient, being higher in deep environments. Because extirpation was concentrated in brachiopods, but immigration was similar in both clades, the taxonomic structure of the region was significantly modified. Although regional hierarchical diversity structure and occupancy distributions remained stable, dissecting the analysis in brachiopods and bivalves underscores that both clades had different responses to climate change. Brachiopods, on the one hand, show stability in the diversity structure and a very slight decrease in occupancies of intermediate genera, while bivalves show an important rise in diversity, both at the environment and regional scale, and an increase in genera with intermediate occupancies. The bathymetric diversity gradient was also modified from hump shaped with maximum diversity in the deep subtidal to a linear gradient with maximum values toward the offshore. However, relative compositional differences within environments remained stable, with maximum values at intermediate depths both in glacial and nonglacial intervals. Moreover, local-scale coexistence between brachiopods and bivalves changed in the nonglacial interval, showing significant segregation, which indicates relevant modifications in community assembly dynamics. Results from western Argentina highlight the magnitude of regional-scale ecological changes during the LPIA in ice-proximal regions, suggesting that the waxing and waning of glaciers was able to cause regional taxonomic turnover and medium-scale ecological changes even during intervals of relative macroevolutionary quiescence.

Immigration and extirpation selectivity patterns of brachiopods and bivalves across a Carboniferous glacial to non-glacial transition (Pennsylvanian, central western Argentina) and their influence in building the biotic bathymetric gradient

“…Further analyses on potential selectivity showed that turnover was not taxonomic nor environmentally homogeneous, being harsher in brachiopods and in offshore settings (Balseiro, 2016a). Moreover, while a severe taxonomic turnover, detected in brachiopods, was caused by higher extirpation (Balseiro, 2016a), a stronger turnover in the offshore was a result of higher immigration into that environment (Balseiro and Halpern, 2016), indicating that turnover in both cases was driven by contrasting dynamics.…”

“…glacial centers James, 2008, 2012;Sterren and Cisterna, 2010;Balseiro, 2016a;Balseiro and Halpern, 2016).…”

“…Facing a major glacial to non glacial transition, occurring within the Carboniferous glacial peak of the LPIA (Montañez and Poulsen, 2013), brachiopod-bivalve communities in western Argentina recorded important compositional changes (Sterren and Cisterna, 2010;Balseiro, 2016a).…”

“…Consequences related to such turnover included remodeling of the bathymetric diversity gradient, modification of the taxonomic structure of the regional community (Balseiro, 2016a) and niche instability of survivor genera (Balseiro and Halpern, 2016). Further analyses on potential selectivity showed that turnover was not taxonomic nor environmentally homogeneous, being harsher in brachiopods and in offshore settings (Balseiro, 2016a).…”

“…Consequences related to such turnover included remodeling of the bathymetric diversity gradient, modification of the taxonomic structure of the regional community (Balseiro, 2016a) and niche instability of survivor genera (Balseiro and Halpern, 2016). Further analyses on potential selectivity showed that turnover was not taxonomic nor environmentally homogeneous, being harsher in brachiopods and in offshore settings (Balseiro, 2016a). Moreover, while a severe taxonomic turnover, detected in brachiopods, was caused by higher extirpation (Balseiro, 2016a), a stronger turnover in the offshore was a result of higher immigration into that environment (Balseiro and Halpern, 2016), indicating that turnover in both cases was driven by contrasting dynamics.…”