Extensive morphological variability in asexually produced planktic foraminifera
Catherine V. Davis, Caitlin M. Livsey, Hannah M. Palmer, Pincelli M. Hull, Ellen Thomas, Tessa M. Hill, Claudia R. Benitez‐Nelson
Abstract
in laboratory culture. Our results demonstrate that planktic foraminifera reproduce both sexually and asexually and demonstrate extensive phenotypic plasticity in response to nonheritable factors. These two processes fundamentally explain the rapid spatial and temporal response of even imperceptibly low populations of planktic foraminifera to optimal conditions and the diversity and ubiquity of these species across the range of environmental conditions that occur in the ocean.
Topics & Concepts
ForaminiferaBiological dispersalBiologyHeritabilityEvolutionary biologyEcologyDemographySociologyBenthic zonePopulationGeology and Paleoclimatology ResearchMarine Biology and Ecology ResearchIsotope Analysis in Ecology