Ostracodes, bi-valved crustaceans, are potentially excellent proxies for salinity.They are abundant, react to changes in salinity, and secrete low-magnesium calcite shells that preserve information about their host water chemistry. Changes in valve trace element concentration, stable isotope composition, and sieve pore shape values have been linked to changes in salinity. This study analyzed the response of the euryhaline ostracode, Cyprideis americana, to salinity in six lakes from two Bahamian islands across two seasons. The purpose of this work was to determine which compositional and morphological variables in C. americana are the most useful for paleosalinity reconstructions.Ostracode and water samples were collected from lakes of varying water chemistry on San Salvador Island (winter and summer seasons), and Exuma (winter season). Dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and temperature measurements were taken for each lake. The best-preserved valves from each lake were analyzed for sieve pore circularity, Mg and Ca concentrations, and δ18 O isotopic composition. Mg/Ca ratios and Kd[Mg] values were calculated for each lake. Each parameter was plotted against salinity for all of the lakes and for lakes from each season and island. Only the samples collected during the summer followed expected trends: with increases in lake water salinity, Mg/Ca ratio decreased, δ18 O composition increased, and sieve pore circularity decreased. Samples collected from the winter field sessions did not follow expected trends, potentially due to the breeding and moulting habits of C. americana. Temperature was more correlative with valve composition than a previous study of C. americana suggests, but is supportive of similar correlations of Cyprideis species in continental and other island settings. The valve Mg/Ca ratio and mean sieve pore circularity showed the best correlation with salinity and are the variables that will be most useful in paleosalinity studies from sediment cores. Future work should further investigate the relationship between mean sieve pore circularity and lake salinity as well as the breeding and moulting habits of C. americana. Such work may allow for past salinity ranges to be reconstructed from fossil C. americana samples.

<p>Lower-Middle Ordovician (Arenig) successions in the East Baltic have been investigated for more than one hundred and fifty years. Nevertheless detailed sampling still yields new species and better knowledge of the environment in which these organisms lived. The successions are well suited for bed by bed sampling because of the lack of tectonic disturbance and because the sequences are well documented. </p><p>This study analyses collections of Billingen-Volkhov age mainly from the St. Petersburg region, but also from Estonia. A great deal of the material was obtained from the marly to clayey, soft sediment that intercalates the compact packstones and wackestones in the succession. Twenty-nine of these clay horizons were used for diversity estimates on the fauna through the succession. The most thoroughly investigated groups for this investigation were rhynchonelliformean brachiopods, conodonts and ostracodes. The results indicate that variances in diversity and abundance levels for these groups were not correlated, either to each other or to the small-scale sea level fluctuations that have been suggested for the region. However, diversity dynamics of brachiopods and ostracodes confirm the large-scale upward shallowing of the basin into the Upper Volkhov. Comparison with fossils from the limestones did not reveal any differences in faunal composition between the two preservation modes. </p><p>The detailed sampling, coupled with sampling of the recently described mud mounds that occur in several outcrops, yielded large numbers of specimens. This enabled revision of earlier poorly known rhynchonelliformean genera such as <i>Ujukella</i> Andreev, as well as better known genera such as <i>Porambonites</i> Pander. In total the examined faunas include 31 genera assigned to 53 species of rhynchonelliformean brachiopods. Of these <i>Leoniorthis </i>and <i>Eoporambonites</i> are defined as new genera, and the following new species are described: <i>Neumania paucicostata, Ranorthis rotunda, Orthidium gambolovensis, Orthidium lavensis, Skenidioides minutus, Tetralobula peregrina, Idiostrophia prima</i> and <i>Idiostrophia tenuicostata</i>.</p>

Lower-Middle Ordovician (Arenig) successions in the East Baltic have been investigated for more than one hundred and fifty years. Nevertheless detailed sampling still yields new species and better knowledge of the environment in which these organisms lived. The successions are well suited for bed by bed sampling because of the lack of tectonic disturbance and because the sequences are well documented. This study analyses collections of Billingen-Volkhov age mainly from the St. Petersburg region, but also from Estonia. A great deal of the material was obtained from the marly to clayey, soft sediment that intercalates the compact packstones and wackestones in the succession. Twenty-nine of these clay horizons were used for diversity estimates on the fauna through the succession. The most thoroughly investigated groups for this investigation were rhynchonelliformean brachiopods, conodonts and ostracodes. The results indicate that variances in diversity and abundance levels for these groups were not correlated, either to each other or to the small-scale sea level fluctuations that have been suggested for the region. However, diversity dynamics of brachiopods and ostracodes confirm the large-scale upward shallowing of the basin into the Upper Volkhov. Comparison with fossils from the limestones did not reveal any differences in faunal composition between the two preservation modes. The detailed sampling, coupled with sampling of the recently described mud mounds that occur in several outcrops, yielded large numbers of specimens. This enabled revision of earlier poorly known rhynchonelliformean genera such as Ujukella Andreev, as well as better known genera such as Porambonites Pander. In total the examined faunas include 31 genera assigned to 53 species of rhynchonelliformean brachiopods. Of these Leoniorthis and Eoporambonites are defined as new genera, and the following new species are described: Neumania paucicostata, Ranorthis rotunda, Orthidium gambolovensis, Orthidium lavensis, Skenidioides minutus, Tetralobula peregrina, Idiostrophia prima and Idiostrophia tenuicostata.

To show how predaceous fish and dragonflies affect benthic community structure, we conducted enclosure experiments in the littoral zone of Bays Mountain Lake, Tennessee. A 'natural' benthic assemblage was subjected to all combinations of 2 densities of 3 predator treatments - small sunfish, 0 or 4/m2; large dragonfly larvae, 0 or 15/m2; and dragonfly eggs at 2 densities, 90 or 900/m2. Treatments were assigned randomly in each of 6 spatiotemporal blocks. Net effects of predation over 4 mo show that small sunfish had 'strong' effects (>50% reduction of densities) on triclads, large daphnid cladocerans, and snails, and 'moderate' effects (50% > reduction > 25%) on small dragonflies and ostracods; all these effects were statistically significant, except the one on ostracods. Large dragonflies had moderate non-significant effects on triclads and ostracods. There were no significant increases in prey density associated with fish predation; but chydorid cladocerans and midge larvae showed 'weak' non-significant increases that might be caused by 'indirect effects' of fish predation on invertebrate predators or grazers. There were only 2 significant interaction terms indicative of 'higher-order interactions': Fish X Dragonfly on the large daphnid Simocephalus, and Fish X Egg Density on snails, which were associated with relatively low probabilities. In both cases, the net effect of dragonflies was to reduce prey densities more when fish were present.

L'objectif de cet ouvrage est d'établir un schéma d'évolution paléogéographique de la plate-forme cénomanienne permettant de replacer géographiquement les différents domaines sédimentologiques. Tracer le paysage de Tunisie centrale au cours du Cénomanien, n'est autre qu'une analyse et une compréhension des faciès et de l'environnement. Il a fallu d'abord tenter, dans la mesure du possible, d'esquisser une biozonation basée non seulement sur les foraminifères benthiques et planctoniques, mais aussi les ammonites et les ostracodes. Cette biozonation appelait à son tour une étude systématique. C'est dans cette direction que s'est engagée la présente recherche

Il y a 7000 ans BP, la stabilisation du niveau marin a entraîné la formation de deltas. Ces zones deltaïques abritent des milieux aux degrés de protection différents favorables à une activité maritime. Cependant, ces espaces sont soumis à des contraintes naturelles : à l'échelle de la longue durée, l'alluvionnement des deltas entraîne la mobilité des littoraux et le colmatage des milieux portuaires ; à l'échelle de l'événement, les tempêtes, les tsunamis et la mobilité crustale entraînent la destruction, la submersion ou le soulèvement des zones portuaires. Ce travail porte sur l'étude des contraintes et des potentialités environnementales de cinq ports antiques répartis dans le monde Méditerranéen en marge de deltas. L'objectif est d'estimer le poids de ces contraintes sur les sociétés via une approche statistique. Pour quatre des sites d'études, l'alluvionnement est le forçage majeur. A Kition et Orgame, l'impact de l'alluvionnement est indirect. La fermeture des baies marines par l'édification de cordons littoraux crée des environnements lagunaires propices à l'installation de zones portuaires. En revanche, Fréjus et Ampurias sont soumis à un alluvionnement direct qui a rapidement colmaté les bassins. A partir de l'époque romaine et avec l'invention de la pouzzolane, des zones portuaires sont installées en milieu littoral ouvert, comme à Istanbul. Dans un contexte tectoniquement actif, les tsunamis constituent la contrainte majeure opérant sur le port byzantin de Théodose à Istanbul. Un dépôt grossier et chaotique, contenant du matériel marin et archéologique remanié, compose une partie de la séquence stratigraphique de colmatage du bassin et témoigne de ce forçage. / The stabilization of sea level at 7000 years ago led to the formation of deltaic areas. These areas constituted sheltered environments particularly conducive to maritime activity. However, these areas were also subject to natural constraints for human occupation: at long timescales, high sediment supply to deltaic areas led to significative coastal changes and the infilling of harbour areas; at shorter timescales, high-energy events and crustal mobility led to the destruction, submersion and/or uplift of harbour areas. This work focuses on the study of environmental constraints and potentialities governing five ancient harbours, located on deltaic margins in the Mediterranean. The study aims to semi-qualitatively measure of the weight of these constraints on harbour cities, using statistical approach. High sediment supply is the major natural forcing. At Orgame and Kition, the closure of marine bays by coastal barriers led to the formation of lagoon environments conducive to the installation of harbour areas. Frejus and Ampurias were subject to direct siltation which quickly infilled the harbour basin. The invention of the pozzolan in Roman times means that harbours could be constructed in coastal areas open to the sea and away from river mouths, such as Istanbul harbour. In a tectonically active context, tsunamis are the major constraint acting in the Byzantine harbour of Theodosius in Istanbul. There, the stratigraphic sequence contains a coarse and chaotic deposit composed of reworked marine and archaeological material which demonstrates the societal impacts of such a natural and destructive forcing agent.

Lake Tanganyika is a complex, tropical ecosystem in East Africa, harboring an estimated 2,100 species. Extensive watershed deforestation threatens the biodiversity and ecological integrity of the lake. In this dissertation, ecological and paleoecological methods were employed to study the distribution of invertebrate biodiversity through space and time, with particular emphasis on linkages between biodiversity and land –use patterns. Ecological surveys of fish, mollusc, and ostracod crustacean diversity at sites in northern Lake Tanganyika representing different levels of watershed disturbance revealed a negative correlation between biodiversity and intensity of watershed disturbance. To elucidate the long -term relationship between disturbance and biodiversity, paleoecological records of invertebrates offshore from watersheds experiencing different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance were examined. Life, death, and fossil assemblages of ostracod valves were compared to assess the reliability and natural variability inherent to the paleoecological record. These comparisons indicated that paleoecological (i.e. death and fossil) assemblages reliably preserve information on species richness, abundance, and occurrence frequency at comparable -to- annual resolution. Unlike life assemblages, species composition of paleoecological assemblages reflects input of species from multiple habitat types. Ostracod paleoecological assemblages are characterized by spatiotemporal averaging that renders them representative of larger areas and longer time spans than life assemblages. Thus, paleoecological assemblages provide an efficient means of characterizing longer -term, site -average conditions. Natural variability in ostracod fossil assemblages from a sediment core representing the Late Glacial to the present indicates that abundance of individual ostracod species is highly variable. Ostracod assemblages were preserved in only the most recent 2,500 years of sediment. Species composition of ostracod assemblages reflects lake water depth. Core geochemical data indicate that the coring site may have been below the oxycline for ~2,000 years, inhibiting ostracod survival and preservation. Paleoecological, sedimentological, and stable isotope data revealed differences in biodiversity and watershed disturbance through time offshore from a pair of sites. The protected site is offshore from Gombe Stream National Park (Tanzania), the other offshore from a deforested watershed outside the park. Offshore from the deforested watershed, sedimentation rates increased, and turnover in ostracod species composition occurred during the past 50 years. Comparable changes were not observed offshore from the park.