A regime shift in the reef ecosystem on the Yangtze Platform : clues to deciphering a great revolution of the Ordovician geobiota

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A regime shift in the reef ecosystem occurred in the Early Ordovician and influenced greatly the ensuing reef evolution. This study examines the temporal changes in reef constituents and their modes of construction on the Yangtze Platform. In this region, Lower Ordovician(Tremadocian) bryozoan. pelmatozoan reef and demosponge. bryozoan reef are the oldest skeletal-dominant, bryozoan reefs worldwide, whereas demosponge. stromatolite reef is a remnant of the period before the regime shift. A dramatic replacement in the main reef builders of the ecosystem is likely to have been closely related to the progressive revolution in the marine geobiota that culminated in the Ordovician radiation.