The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event:Finding a Context
During an extended interval of some 35 Ma,the ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) witnessed spectacular increases in marine biodiversity at mainly lower taxonomic levels,largely within phyla established much earlier during the ‘Cambrian Explosion.This diversification has been attributed to a combination of several geological and biological processes and their ecological feedbacks.The event involved major increases in a,β and γ,biodiversity associated with the rise of the Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna,dominated by suspension feeders and involving a greater occupation of ecospace and generation of more complex ecological structures.The event is also characterized by major changes in reef composition,with a changeover from microbial-dominated reefs in the Early and Mid Ordovician to metazoan-dominated reefs in the Late Ordovician.Increases in the complexity of deep-water trace fossils commenced in the early Ordovician and illustrate the increasing exploitation of the deep sea,whereas the development of hardgrounds encouraged bioerosion and encrusting strategies together with the appearance of cryptic communities.Within the water column,the GOBEinvolved significant increases in the diversity of the phytoplankton and the development of a diverse zooplankton together with planktotrophic larvae,enabling the establishment of a diverse fauna of pelagic arthropods,hemichordates,molluscs and vertebrates,continuing to sustain the radiation of suspension feeders in the benthos.
Ordovician biodiversification palaeoecology evolution
David A.T.Harper
Natural History Museum of Denmark(Geological Museum),University of Copenhagen,φster Voldgade 5-7,DK-1350 Copenhagen K,Denmark
国际会议
The Darwin 200 Beijing International Conference (纪念达尔文诞辰200周年国际学术会议)
北京
英文
114-125
2009-10-24（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）