Adam Tomašových

Bio: Adam Tomašových is an academic researcher from Slovak Academy of Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Benthic zone & Geology. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 75 publications receiving 2242 citations. Previous affiliations of Adam Tomašových include University of Chicago & University of Würzburg.

Phanerozoic trends in the global diversity of marine invertebrates.

Abstract: It has previously been thought that there was a steep Cretaceous and Cenozoic radiation of marine invertebrates. This pattern can be replicated with a new data set of fossil occurrences representing 3.5 million specimens, but only when older analytical protocols are used. Moreover, analyses that employ sampling standardization and more robust counting methods show a modest rise in diversity with no clear trend after the mid-Cretaceous. Globally, locally, and at both high and low latitudes, diversity was less than twice as high in the Neogene as in the mid-Paleozoic. The ratio of global to local richness has changed little, and a latitudinal diversity gradient was present in the early Paleozoic.

Catastrophic ocean acidification at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary

Abstract: Palaeobotanical and geochemical evidence indicate a sudden rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, probably reflecting the combined effect of extensive volcanic degassing and thermal dissociation of marine gas hydrates. Using carbon isotopes as a geochemical marker, we found that the onset of the CO2 emissions coincided with an inter- ruption of carbonate sedimentation in palaeogeographically distant regions, suggesting that hydro- lysis of CO2 led to a short but substantial decrease of seawater pH that slowed down or inhibited precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals. The cessation of carbonate sedimentation correlates with a major marine extinction event, which especially affected organisms with aragonitic or high-Mg calcitic skeletons and little physiological control of biocalcification. These findings strengthen current concerns that ocean acidification from industrial CO2 release threatens biotopes that are dominated by such organisms, in particular tropical reef systems.

Fidelity of variation in species composition and diversity partitioning by death assemblages: time-averaging transfers diversity from beta to alpha levels

Abstract: Despite extensive paleoecological analyses of spatial and temporal turnover in species composition, the fidelity with which time-averaged death assemblages capture variation in species composition and diversity partitioning of living communities remains unexplored. Do death assemblages vary in composition between sites to a lesser degree than do living assemblages, as would be predicted from time-averaging? And is the higher number of species observed in death relative to living assemblages reduced with increasing spatial scale? We quantify the preservation of spatial and temporal variation in species composition using 11 regional data sets based on samples of living molluscan communities and their co-occurring time-averaged death assemblages. (1) Compositional dissimilarities among living assemblages (LA) within data sets are significantly positively rank-correlated to dissimilarities among counterpart pairs of death assemblages (DA), demonstrating that pairwise dissimilarity within a study area has a good preservation potential in the fossil record. Dissimilarity indices that downplay the abundance of dominant species return the highest live-dead agreement of variation in species composition. (2) The average variation in species composition (average dissimilarity) is consistently smaller in DAs than in LAs (9 of 11 data sets). This damping of variation might arise from DAs generally having a larger sample size, but the reduction by ∼10–20% mostly persists even in size-standardized analyses (4 to 7 of 11 data sets, depending on metric). Beta diversity expressed by the number of compositionally distinct communities is also significantly reduced in death assemblages in size-standardized analyses (by ∼25%). This damping of variation and reduction in beta diversity is in accord with the loss of temporal resolution expected from time-averaging, without invoking taphonomic bias (from differential preservation or postmortem transportation) or sample-size effects. The loss of temporal resolution should directly reduce temporal variation, and assuming time-for-space substitution owing to random walk within one habitat and/or temporal habitat shifting, it also decreases spatial variation in species composition. (3) DAs are more diverse than LAs at the alpha scale, but the difference is reduced at gamma scales because partitioning of alpha and beta components differs significantly between LAs and DAs. This indicates that the effects of time-averaging are reduced with increasing spatial scale. Thus, overall, time-averaged molluscan DAs do capture variation among samples of the living assemblage, but they tend to damp the magnitude of variation, making them a conservative means of inferring change over time or variation among regions in species composition and diversity. Rates of temporal and spatial species turnover documented in the fossil record are thus expected to be depressed relative to the turnover rates that are predicted by models of community dynamics, which assume higher temporal resolution. Finally, the capture by DAs of underlying variation in the LA implies little variation in the net preservation potential of death assemblages across environments, despite the different taphonomic pathways suggested by taphofacies studies.

Predicting the effects of increasing temporal scale on species composition, diversity, and rank-abundance distributions

Abstract: Paleoecological analyses that test for spatial or temporal variation in diversity must consider not only sampling and preservation bias, but also the effects of temporal scale (ie, time- averaging) The species-time relationship (STR) describes how species diversity increases with the elapsed time of observation, but its consequences for assessing the effects of time-averaging on diversity of fossil assemblages remain poorly explored Here, we use a neutral, dispersal-limited model of metacommunity dynamics, with parameters estimated from living assemblages of 31 molluscan data sets, to model the effects of within-habitat time-averaging on the mean composition and multivariate dispersion of assemblages, on diversity at point (single station) and habitat scales (pooled multiple stations), and on beta diversity We hold sample size constant in STRs to isolate the effects of time-averaging from sampling effects With increasing within-habitat time-averaging, stochastic switching in the identity of species in living (dispersal-limited) assemblages (1) decreases the proportional abundance of abundant species, reducing the steepness of the rank-abundance distribution, and (2) increases the proportional richness of rare, temporally short-lived species that immigrate from the neutral metacommunity with many rare species These two effects together (1) can shift the mean composition away from the non-averaged (dispersal-limited) assemblages toward averaged assemblages that are less limited by dispersal, resembling that of the metacommunity; (2) allow the point and habitat diversity to increase toward metacommunity diversity under a given sample size (ie, the diversity in averaged assemblages is inflated relative to non-averaged assemblages); and (3) reduce beta diversity because species unique to individual stations become shared by other stations when limited by a larger but static species pool Surprisingly, these scale- dependent changes occur at fixed sample sizes and can become significant after only a few decades or centuries of time-averaging, and are accomplished without invoking ecological succession, environmental changes, or selective postmortem preservation Time-averaging results in less inflation of diversity at habitat than at point scales; paleoecological studies should thus analyze data at multiple spatial scales, including that of the habitat where multiple bulk samples have been pooled in order to minimize time-averaging effects The diversity of assemblages that have accumulated over 1000 years at point and habitat scales is expected to be inflated by an average of 21 and 16, respectively This degree of inflation is slightly higher than that observed in molluscan death assemblages at these same spatial scales (18 and 13) Thus, neutral metacommunity models provide useful quantitative constraints on directional but predictable effects of time-averaging They provide minimal estimates for the rate of increase in diversity with time-averaging because they assume no change in environmental conditions and in the composition of the metacommunity within the window of averaging

Modern Applied Statistics With S

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Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?

Abstract: Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.

The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants

Abstract: Much as Rachel Carson's \"Silent Spring\" was a call to action against the pesticides that were devastating bird populations, Charles S. Elton's classic \"The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants\" sounded an early warning about an environmental catastrophe that has become all too familiar today-the invasion of nonnative species. From kudzu to zebra mussels to Asian long-horned beetles, nonnative species are colonizing new habitats around the world at an alarming rate thanks to accidental and intentional human intervention. One of the leading causes of extinctions of native animals and plants, invasive species also wreak severe economic havoc, causing $79 billion worth of damage in the United States alone. Elton explains the devastating effects that invasive species can have on local ecosystems in clear, concise language and with numerous examples. The first book on invasion biology, and still the most cited, Elton's masterpiece provides an accessible, engaging introduction to one of the most important environmental crises of our time. Charles S. Elton was one of the founders of ecology, who also established and led Oxford University's Bureau of Animal Population. His work has influenced generations of ecologists and zoologists, and his publications remain central to the literature in modern biology. \"History has caught up with Charles Elton's foresight, and \"The Ecology of Invasions\" can now be seen as one of the central scientific books of our century.\"-David Quammen, from the Foreword to \"Killer Algae: The True Tale of a Biological Invasion\

Long-term datasets in biodiversity research and monitoring: assessing change in ecological communities through time

Abstract: The growing need for baseline data against which efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss can be judged highlights the importance of long-term datasets, some of which are as old as ecology itself. We review methods of evaluating change in biodiversity at the community level using these datasets, and contrast whole-community approaches with those that combine information from different species and habitats. As all communities experience temporal turnover, one of the biggest challenges is distinguishing change that can be attributed to external factors, such as anthropogenic activities, from underlying natural change. We also discuss methodological issues, such as false alerts and modifications in design, of which users of these data sets need to be aware.

Climate change and the past, present, and future of biotic interactions

Abstract: Biotic interactions drive key ecological and evolutionary processes and mediate ecosystem responses to climate change. The direction, frequency, and intensity of biotic interactions can in turn be altered by climate change. Understanding the complex interplay between climate and biotic interactions is thus essential for fully anticipating how ecosystems will respond to the fast rates of current warming, which are unprecedented since the end of the last glacial period. We highlight episodes of climate change that have disrupted ecosystems and trophic interactions over time scales ranging from years to millennia by changing species’ relative abundances and geographic ranges, causing extinctions, and creating transient and novel communities dominated by generalist species and interactions. These patterns emerge repeatedly across disparate temporal and spatial scales, suggesting the possibility of similar underlying processes. Based on these findings, we identify knowledge gaps and fruitful areas for research that will further our understanding of the effects of climate change on ecosystems.