Estimation of Species Richness of Permian Foraminifera in Non-Parametric Methods and Investigation of Its Change Trend in Central Alborz, Western Tethys

Abstract

Species richness of foraminifera assemblages in the Permian succession, contains Dorud, Ruteh and Nessen Formations, in Central Alborz-North of Iran, was estimated and studied based on lithostratigraphy and microbiostratigraphy of Permian. We used four non-parametric estimators to investigate the species richness: Chao 2, Jackknife 1, Jackknife 2 and bootstrap. These methods estimates the species richness based on the presence/absence data of each taxon identified in the samples. We use the submenu of quadrat richness in "Past" [1] software to estimate richness in regional chronostratigraphic stages.The results show that the estimated diversity of foraminiferal assemblages with the exception of late Yakhtashian, increased constantly from Asselian to Murgabian with the highest diversity of foraminifera seen in the Murgabian. The main decrease in foraminiferal species richness happened during the Midian which corresponds to the kamura cooling event.