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Foraminiferal Ecology and Paleoecology
Marine Micropaleontology, 5 (1980): 327 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
327
B o o k Review
Foraminiferal Ecology and Paleoecology. J. Lipps et al. SEPM Short Course No. 6. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Houston, Texas, 1979, 198 pp., U.S.$6.00. This slim (197 pp.) volume, based on a short course organised by the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, is packed with useful information of relevance n o t only to foraminiferal workers but to stratigraphers, sedimentologists, geochemists and palaeontologists in general. The contributions are all of a very high standard, up-to-date and written by acknowledged leaders in their fields. They include the following chapters: The Measurement of Species Diversity (M.A. Buzas, 8 pp.); Quantitative Biofacies Analysis (M.A. Buzas, 10 pp); Benthic Foraminiferal Ecology and Paleoecology (R.G. Douglas, 33 pp.); The Ecology of Large, Shallow-Water, Tropical Foraminifera (C.A. Ross, 8 pp.); The Ecology and Paleoecology of Planktic Foraminifera (J.H. Lipps, 43 pp.); Preservation of Foraminifera (W.H. Berger, 51 pp.); and Stable Isotopes in Foraminifera (W.H. Berger, 41 pp.). Each of the contributors provides an up-to-date reference list and a review of the present frontiers of their specialisations in concise, well-illustrated and clearly presented accounts. There is little overlap and the whole integrates well, although a great deal more attention is given to the planktics. This is understandable in view of the prolific data they have provided over the last two decades to aid our understanding of past climates and oceanography. All through the volume there is emphasis on the need for caution and the necessity of testing hypotheses. In their adherence to strict scientific discipline the authors raise many doubts a b o u t simplistic interpretations and strongly illuminate areas requiring further investigation. The most striking and pervasive of these areas concerns the biology of the foraminifera where the situation is summed up by Lipps in his introductory chapter in these sentences: "One thing stands out in each paper -- the lack of biologic data to support ecologic conclusions. Most of us deal n o t with ecology or palaeoecology, but with environment and palaeoenvironment". It is a pity the biologists have n o t more information to give a b o u t the ecology. The palaeontologists are in need of much more information a b o u t the living foram. This is a lean, vigorous book, stimulating and informative, where at a very reasonable price the non-specialist can quickly inform himself from authoritative sources a b o u t the possible and the doubtful applications of foraminifera to the study of past environments.
C. Downie Sheffield (United Kingdom)
327
B o o k Review
Foraminiferal Ecology and Paleoecology. J. Lipps et al. SEPM Short Course No. 6. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. Houston, Texas, 1979, 198 pp., U.S.$6.00. This slim (197 pp.) volume, based on a short course organised by the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, is packed with useful information of relevance n o t only to foraminiferal workers but to stratigraphers, sedimentologists, geochemists and palaeontologists in general. The contributions are all of a very high standard, up-to-date and written by acknowledged leaders in their fields. They include the following chapters: The Measurement of Species Diversity (M.A. Buzas, 8 pp.); Quantitative Biofacies Analysis (M.A. Buzas, 10 pp); Benthic Foraminiferal Ecology and Paleoecology (R.G. Douglas, 33 pp.); The Ecology of Large, Shallow-Water, Tropical Foraminifera (C.A. Ross, 8 pp.); The Ecology and Paleoecology of Planktic Foraminifera (J.H. Lipps, 43 pp.); Preservation of Foraminifera (W.H. Berger, 51 pp.); and Stable Isotopes in Foraminifera (W.H. Berger, 41 pp.). Each of the contributors provides an up-to-date reference list and a review of the present frontiers of their specialisations in concise, well-illustrated and clearly presented accounts. There is little overlap and the whole integrates well, although a great deal more attention is given to the planktics. This is understandable in view of the prolific data they have provided over the last two decades to aid our understanding of past climates and oceanography. All through the volume there is emphasis on the need for caution and the necessity of testing hypotheses. In their adherence to strict scientific discipline the authors raise many doubts a b o u t simplistic interpretations and strongly illuminate areas requiring further investigation. The most striking and pervasive of these areas concerns the biology of the foraminifera where the situation is summed up by Lipps in his introductory chapter in these sentences: "One thing stands out in each paper -- the lack of biologic data to support ecologic conclusions. Most of us deal n o t with ecology or palaeoecology, but with environment and palaeoenvironment". It is a pity the biologists have n o t more information to give a b o u t the ecology. The palaeontologists are in need of much more information a b o u t the living foram. This is a lean, vigorous book, stimulating and informative, where at a very reasonable price the non-specialist can quickly inform himself from authoritative sources a b o u t the possible and the doubtful applications of foraminifera to the study of past environments.
C. Downie Sheffield (United Kingdom)