Physiological Ecology of Benthic Foraminifera in Dysaerobic Environments: Santa Barbara Basin

9417097 Bernhard溶解氧在大多数海洋沉积物的生物带内被置换为零。底栖有孔虫（Protista: Sarcodina）是海洋沉积物中数量最多的小动物群，是少数能够在缺氧环境中生存的真核生物类群之一。不幸的是，人们对这些有孔虫的生理生态学知之甚少。这个项目的广泛目标是研究某些有孔虫，传统上被定义为需氧生物，如何在缺氧情况下生存，并确定它们对缺氧的行为反应。有孔虫群落将从南加州盆地的两种沉积物中进行研究。对生活在缺氧环境中的底栖有孔虫的生理生态学的研究对包括底栖生态学、进化生物学、生态毒理学和古海洋学在内的许多学科都具有重要意义。地质沉积物中兼性厌氧有孔虫化石的存在可以指示石油矿床的存在，因为油源矿床通常形成于有机质富集的厌氧条件下。

9417097 Bernhard Dissolved oxygen is deplaced to zero within the biological zone of most marine sediments. Benthic foraminifera (Protista: Sarcodina), the most abundant meiofaunal group in many marine sediments, are one of few eukaryotic taxa which successfully inhabits anoxic environments. Unfortunately, little is known about the physiological ecology of these foraminifera. The broad objective of this project to examine how certain foraminifera, classically defined as aerobes, survive episodes of anoxia and to determine their behavioral response to anoxia. Foraminiferal communities will be studies from two types of sediments of the Southern California Basin. Studies of the physiological ecology of benthic foraminifera inhabiting anoxic environments are significant to a variety of disciplines, including benthic ecology, evolutionary biology, ecotoxicology, and paleoceanography. The fossil presence of facultative anaerobic foraminifera in geologic deposits can indicate where petroleum depostis exist, since oil source deposits generally form during organic-enriched, anaerobic conditions.