Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale

To better understand temporal variations in species diversity and composition, ecological attributes, and environmental influences for the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale community, we studied 50,900 fossil specimens belonging to 158 genera (mostly monospecific and non-biomineralized) representing 17 major taxonomic groups and 17 ecological categories. Fossils were collected in situ from within 26 massive siliciclastic mudstone beds of the Greater Phyllopod Bed (Walcott Quarry — Fossil Ridge). Previous taphonomic studies have demonstrated that each bed represents a single obrution event capturing a predominantly benthic community represented by census- and time-averaged assemblages, preserved within habitat. The Greater Phyllopod Bed (GPB) corresponds to an estimated depositional interval of 10 to 100 KA and thus potentially preserves community patterns in ecological and short-term evolutionary time.The community is dominated by epibenthic vagile deposit feeders and sessile suspension feeders, represented primarily by arthropods and sponges. Most species are characterized by low abundance and short stratigraphic range and usually do not recur through the section. It is likely that these are stenotopic forms (i.e., tolerant of a narrow range of habitats, or having a narrow geographical distribution). The few recurrent species tend to be numerically abundant and may represent eurytopic organisms (i.e., tolerant of a wide range of habitats, or having a wide geographical distribution). Rarefaction curves demonstrate variation in species richness through the GPB and suggest that more stenotopic species could still be discovered with additional sampling. Comparisons between richness and evenness trends suggest that the community is relatively stable overall, despite gradual species turnover through time, especially in assemblages from younger beds. Less diverse assemblages with low species evenness possibly represent the onset of less favourable environmental conditions.Fossil occurrences in individual beds were analysed using a range of statistical techniques (Correspondence Analysis, Canonical Correspondence Analysis, Minimum Spanning Tree, Indicator Species Analysis, Mantel Test) to extract community patterns. Results suggest the presence of four fossil assemblages based on distinct species associations. The different assemblages presumably reflect variations in environmental and ecological conditions, some acting through time, leading to species turnover. “Disturbances” (e.g., changes in paleo-redox conditions), differences in substrate firmness, and limited taphonomic biases are probably the main factors contributing to community structure. The influence of ecological factors, however, is also predicted from non-random patterns of species recurrences in successive events. Preliminary comparisons with Lower Cambrian Chengjiang-type assemblages of southern China suggest that the overall structure and ecology of Cambrian communities remained relatively stable until at least the Middle Cambrian in subtidal siliciclastic soft substrate environments.Comparisons with modern marine benthic ecosystems further suggest the Burgess Shale community was probably highly dependent on immigration from a regional pool of species after each burial event. This could support the view that species availability, habitat characteristics, and recolonisation processes were more important in structuring the community in the long-term than species interactions or environmental variations at a local scale.