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Towards an unbiased estimate of fluctuations in reef abundance and volume during the Phanerozoic
1Museum of Natural History, Humboldt-University Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Abstract. The globally preserved number and volume of ancient biogenic reefs is strongly biased by two factors: geological history and research intensity. These biases are sufficiently strong to cast doubts on the biological meaning of the recorded raw pattern. Without adjustment it is hard or impossible to identify factors potentially controlling the waxing and waning of this important ecosystem through time. Although it is impossible to completely compensate for the biases, I demonstrate herein that spatiotemporal heterogeneities of the biases can largely be evened out by: (1) omitting oceanic reef sites and reef sites only known from subsurface exploration; (2) standardizing for economic factors known to affect research intensity; and (3) adjusting for sedimentary cycling processes. The resulting curves of fossil reef abundance and volume appear quite different from the original ones but neither is the overall volatility reduced, nor are patterns of waxing and waning of the time series significantly altered. Thus, although the differences are sufficiently strong to call for new tests of potential extrinsic controls on Phanerozoic reef proliferation, the raw curves correctly reflect the basic timing of major reef blooms and declines.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 424 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 3 Comments) Final Revised Paper (BG)
Citation: Kiessling, W.: Towards an unbiased estimate of fluctuations in reef abundance and volume during the Phanerozoic, Biogeosciences Discuss., 2, 1487-1514, 2005. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
