Estoc: New approach warrants long-term support to the oceanic observational program

Peer Reviewe

Estoc: New approach warrants long-term support to the oceanic observational program

Peer Reviewe

Seasonal Variation in Shell Calcification of Planktonic Foraminifera in the NE Atlantic Reveals Species-Specific Response to Temperature, Productivity, and Optimum Growth Conditions

Using shells collected from a sediment trap series in the Madeira Basin, we investigate the effects of seasonal variation of temperature, productivity, and optimum growth conditions on calcification in three species of planktonic Foraminifera. The series covers an entire seasonal cycle and reflects conditions at the edge of the distribution of the studied species, manifesting more suitable growth conditions during different parts of the year. The seasonal variation in seawater carbonate saturation at the studied site is negligible compared to other oceanic regions, allowing us to assess the effect of parameters other than carbonate saturation. Shell calcification is quantified using weight and size of individual shells. The size–weight scaling within each species is robust against changes in environmental parameters, but differs among species. An analysis of the variation in calcification intensity (size-normalized weight) reveals species-specific response patterns. In Globigerinoides ruber (white) and Globigerinoides elongatus, calcification intensity is correlated with temperature (positive) and productivity (negative), whilst in Globigerina bulloides no environmental forcing is observed. The size–weight scaling, calcification intensity, and response of calcification intensity to environmental change differed between G. ruber (white) and G. elongatus, implying that patterns extracted from pooled analyses of these species may reflect their changing proportions in the samples. Using shell flux as a measure of optimum growth conditions, we observe significant positive correlation with calcification intensity in G. elongatus, but negative correlation in G. bulloides. The lack of a consistent response of calcification intensity to optimum growth conditions is mirrored by the results of shell size analyses. We conclude that calcification intensity in planktonic Foraminifera is affected by factors other than carbonate saturation. These factors include temperature, productivity, and optimum growth conditions, but the strength and sign of the relationships differ among species, potentially complicating interpretations of calcification data from the fossil record

"Las cosas singulares de piedras, animales, plantas": la formación y el funcionamiento de la red imperial española de remesas centíficas en el Virreinato del Río de la Plata

El presente artículo acompaña el proceso de remesa de especímenes animales y vegetales de la región administrativa del Virreinato del Río de la Plata para las instituciones científicas españolas, tales como el Real Gabinete, el Real Jardín Botánico y las menageries del Retiro y de Aranjuez. El propósito fue intentar sorprender esas remesas en el exacto momento en que tales instituciones y sus redes de recolección estaban siendo creadas, buscando expli- car las lógicas que las presidían, en un momento en que se mezclaban propósitos de orden económico; la cultura de la dádiva, típica del Antiguo Régimen; con las modernas prácticas científicas que estaban en construcción