In this 2006 volume John Murray investigates the ecological processes that control the distribution, abundance and species diversity of benthic foraminifera in environments ranging from marsh to the deepest ocean. To interpret the fossil record it is necessary to have an understanding of the ecology of modern foraminifera and the processes operating after death leading to burial and fossilisation. This book presents the ecological background required to explain how fossil forms are used in dating rocks and reconstructing past environmental features including changes of sea level. It demonstrates how living foraminifera can be used to monitor modern-day environmental change. Ecology and Applications of Benthic Foraminifera presents a comprehensive and global coverage of the subject using all the available literature. It is supported by a website hosting a large database of additional ecological information (www.cambridge.org/0521828392) and will form an important reference for academic researchers and graduate students in Earth and Environmental Sciences.

This is an important and authoritative review of foraminiferal ecology, the first for over a decade. Professor Murray relates ecological data on living forms of foraminifera to the palaeoecology of fossil species, and defines in detail areas of global distribution.

The expansion in knowledge on foraminiferal ecology can be gauged by comparing the syntheses of Phleger 1960s, Boltovskoy 1965, Murray 1973, Boltovskoy and Wright 1976, and the present volume. New developments since the 1970s include better samplers (sealed grabs, box corers, multicorers), the use of SCUBA divers in shallow water both for sampling and the in-situ observation of the environment, stable isotope studies and biochemical techniques. Much greater use is now made of computers in the statistical analysis of data. Improved position-fixing techniques at sea have made it possible to re-sample oceanic sites far from land to build up time-series studies. There has been a greater involvement of biologists with significant advances in understanding physiological processes. Multidisciplinary studies, especially of fossil material have been actively promoted through the deep sea drilling project, international phase of ocean drilling and ocean drilling program.

In this 2006 volume John Murray investigates the ecological processes that control the distribution, abundance and species diversity of benthic foraminifera in environments ranging from marsh to the deepest ocean. To interpret the fossil record it is necessary to have an understanding of the ecology of modern foraminifera and the processes operating after death leading to burial and fossilisation. This book presents the ecological background required to explain how fossil forms are used in dating rocks and reconstructing past environmental features including changes of sea level. It demonstrates how living foraminifera can be used to monitor modern-day environmental change. Ecology and Applications of Benthic Foraminifera presents a comprehensive and global coverage of the subject using all the available literature. It is supported by a website hosting a large database of additional ecological information (www.cambridge.org/0521828392) and will form an important reference for academic researchers and graduate students in Earth and Environmental Sciences.