EXPERIMENTAL EFFECTS OF AN ORGANIC MATTER PULSE AND OXYGEN DEPLETION ON A BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL SHELF COMMUNITY

摘要

Foraminiferal assemblages from a shelf environment (32 m water depth) in the northern Adriatic Sea were incubated in 26 mesocosms, in which six different environmental conditions were created. A number of mesocosms were sealed to initiate anoxic conditions, and different doses of organic matter were added under both the oxygenated and anoxic conditions. The mesocosms were harvested three times during an experimental period of two months and foraminifera were studied in the upper 3 cm of the sediment.