[1] Oxygen and carbon isotope records are important tools used to reconstruct past ocean and climate conditions, with those of benthic foraminifera providing information on the deep oceans. Reconstructions are complicated by interspecies isotopic offsets that result from microhabitat preferences (carbonate precipitation in isotopically distinct environments) and vital effects (species-specific ...

Understanding the interaction between climate and biotic evolution is crucial for deciphering the sensitivity of life. An enigmatic mass extinction occurred in the deep oceans during the Mid Pleistocene, with a loss of over 100 species (20%) of sea floor calcareous foraminifera. An evolutionarily conservative group, benthic foraminifera often comprise >50% of eukaryote biomass on the deep-ocean...

—Foraminiferal tests are a common component of many marine sediments. The oxygen isotope ratio (δ18O) of test calcite is frequently used to reconstruct aspects of their life environment. The δ18O depends mainly on the isotope ratio of the water it is precipitated from, the temperature of calcification, and, to a lesser extent, the carbonate ion concentration. Foraminifera and other organisms ca...

Deep-sea floors represent one of the largest and most complex ecosystems on Earth but remain essentially unexplored. The vastness and remoteness of this ecosystem make deep-sea sampling difficult, hampering traditional taxonomic observations and diversity assessment. This problem is particularly true in the case of the deep-sea meiofauna, which largely comprises small-sized, fragile, and diffic...

The species diversity of benthic foraminifera at four abyssal working areas in the Labrador Sea, Basin, and Southwest Azores is documented. One hundred fifty taxa (forty-three not assigned to a species) were found their was recorded. twenty-four (fifteen illustrated with optical and/or SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) images on twelve plates. material sampled during RV Sonne cruise SO286 as p...

BACKGROUND Symbiosis is a phenomenon that allows organisms to colonise a wide range of environments and occupy a variety of ecological niches in marine environments. Large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are crucial marine calcifiers that rely on photo-endosymbionts for growth and calcification, yet the influence of environmental conditions in shaping their interactions with prokaryotic and eukaryot...