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Article: Diversity patterns in upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician trilobite communities of north‐western Argentina

Palaeontology - Vol. 62 Part 4 - Cover Image
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 62
Part: 4
Publication Date: July 2019
Page(s): 677 695
Author(s): Fernanda Serra, Diego Balseiro, and Beatriz G. Waisfeld
Addition Information

How to Cite

SERRA, F., BALSEIRO, D., WAISFELD, B.G. 2019. Diversity patterns in upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician trilobite communities of north‐western Argentina. Palaeontology, 62, 4, 677-695. DOI: /doi/10.1111/pala.12424

Author Information

  • Fernanda Serra - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Córdoba Argentina
  • Fernanda Serra - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA) Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611 CP X5016GCA Córdoba Argentina
  • Diego Balseiro - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Córdoba Argentina
  • Diego Balseiro - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA) Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611 CP X5016GCA Córdoba Argentina
  • Beatriz G. Waisfeld - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Córdoba Argentina
  • Beatriz G. Waisfeld - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA) Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611 CP X5016GCA Córdoba Argentina

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 24 June 2019
  • Manuscript Accepted: 15 December 2018
  • Manuscript Received: 22 June 2018

Funded By

ANPCyT. Grant Number: PICT 2016 0558

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
Get Article: Wiley Online Library [Pay-to-View Access] |

Abstract

The hierarchical structure of biodiversity from a regional scale analysis has received much attention as an alternative approach to unravelling the principal drivers of biodiversification. To better understand the processes that control the diversification of Cambro‐Ordovician trilobite communities from the Argentine Cordillera Oriental, we explore patterns of occupancy and diversity trajectories at the local and regional scales through seven intervals (Furongian, loTr1, upTr1, loTr2, upTr2, Tr3 and Fl2–3), and across an onshore‐offshore profile. Our results indicate: (1) a decrease in regional diversity from the upper Tr2 onwards, mainly caused by a reduction in the number of rare taxa, coupled with stable beta diversity at regional scale and a constant rise in beta diversity in deep subtidal environments; (2) a higher proportion of regional diversity allocated to the within‐habitat beta component; and (3) that changes in gamma diversity are driven primarily by changes in alpha diversity during the Furongian–Tr3, whereas in the Floian, beta diversity seems to modulate regional diversity. These trends and associated patterns indicate increasing ecological differences among taxa, shifting from metacommunities where most taxa have similar ecological preferences or ‘Hubbell type’ to metacommunities with high niche differentiation or ‘Hutchinson type’. Interestingly, the timing of this shift coincides with the regional‐scale turnover between trilobite evolutionary faunas suggesting that the rise in niche differentiation among these genera may be related to the transition. Superimposed on this general trend, particular diversity structures can be understood in the light of metacommunity dynamics, such as dispersal limitation and mass effect.

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