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

小行星9417097 在大多数海洋沉积物的生物带内，溶解氧被降到零。 底栖有孔虫（Protista：Sarcodina）是海洋沉积物中数量最多的小型底栖动物类群，也是少数成功生活在缺氧环境中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知之甚少。 本项目的主要目的是研究某些有孔虫，经典定义为需氧菌，如何在缺氧环境中生存，并确定它们对缺氧的行为反应。 将从南加州盆地的两种类型的沉积物中研究有孔虫群落。 缺氧环境中底栖有孔虫生理生态学的研究对底栖生态学、进化生物学、生态毒理学和古海洋学等学科具有重要意义。 在地质沉积物中发现兼性厌氧有孔虫化石可以指示石油沉积物的存在，因为油源沉积物通常是在富含有机物的厌氧条件下形成的。

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.