dinoflagellate ecology

Dinoflagellate cyst associations in marine sediments reflect the environmental conditions of upper waters in detail. In time series analysis this aspect can be used to determine past variations in upper water environmental conditions such as human induced eutrophication, changes in sea surface salinity, sea surface temperature, turbulence and nutrient content. Studies on fossil dinoflagellate cyst associations can also provide valuable information about the history and possible causes of dinoflagellate induced harmful algal blooms. However, within the last few years it has become clear that, although there are some generalities, every marine ecosystem has an unique cyst associations when studied in detail and environmental gradients in the upper waters result in an abrupt change of cyst associations within small geographic areas. Consequently for an adequate use of the sedimentary dinoflagellate cyst association for palaeoenvironmental and oceanographic reconstructions a detailed survey with a high geographic resolution is required.
Furthermore, for an adequate reconstruction it is essential to information when in to what amounts dinoflagellates are produced throughout the year.
Here we study these aspects by establishing detailed geographical distribution maps of dinoflagellate species on regional and global scale as well as studying the seasonal cyst production using sediment trap surveys.

Atlas of modern dinoflagellate cyst distribution based on 2435 datapoints


Karin A.F. Zonneveld, Gerard Versteegh Fabienne Marret, Sophie Bonnet, Ilham Bouimetarhan, Erica Crough, Rehab El-Shanawany, Lucy Edwards, Oliver Esper, Sven Forke, Kari Grøsfjeld, Maryse Henry, Ulrike Holzwarth, Jean-François Kielt, Stéphanie Ladouceur, David Ledu, Chen Liang, Audrey Limoges, Laurent Londeix, S.-H Lu, Magdy S. Mahmoud, Gianluca Marino, Kazumi Matsouka, Jens Matthiessen, D.C. Mildenhal5, Peta Mudie,H.L. Neil, Vera Pospolova, Yuzao Qi, Taoufik Radi, Thomas Richerol, André Rochon, Francesca Sangiorgi, Sandrine Solignac, Jean-Louis Turon, Thomas Verleye, Anne de Vernal, Yan Wang, Zhaohui Wang, Marty Young, So Young.

The comparison between the geographical distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in the upper sediments of marine environments and environmental and physical characteristics of the overlying water column has revealed a wealth of information about the ecology of cyst forming dinoflagellates. The majority of these studies have a local or regional character providing information about small-scale relationships between cyst distribution and environment. However, throughout the dinoflagellate cyst research history compiled datasets covering extra regional to global distribution patterns have been established to shed more light on the “global” generalities in dinoflagellate cyst distribution patterns.
We continue this history by compiling data of 2435 world wide distributed sample locations. Cyst associations have been characterized from the upper centimetre of sediments of these sites using standardized taxonomic and preparation techniques.

Relative abundance data are compared with use of Multivariate analyses to environmental gradients of the upper ocean. these include seasonal temperature and salinity, mean annual upper ocean temperature, salinity, phosphate, nitrate and chlorophyll-a concentrations as well as bottom water oxygen concentrations.

Marret, F. and Zonneveld K.A.F. (2003) Atlas of modern organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst distribution. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 2507: pp 200.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Chen, L., El-Shanawany, R., Fischer, H.W., Hoins, M. and Pittaurova, D. (2012) The use of dinoflagellate cysts to separate human-induced fromd natural variability in the trophic state of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries. Marine Pollution Bulletin 64, 114-132.

Verleye T.J., Mertens K.N., Young M.D., Dale B., Esper O., Holzwarth U., McMinn A., Scott L., Vink A., Zonneveld K.A.F. and Louwye S. (2012). Average process length variation of the marine dinoflagellate cyst Operculodinium centrocarpum in the Southern Hemisphere: assessing its potential as a palaeosalinity proxy. Marine Micropalaeontology 86-86: 45-58.

Kohn, M and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2010). Calcification and depth and spatial distribution of Thoracosphaera heimii; implications for palaeoceanographic reconstructions. Deep Sea Research I, 57, 12:1543-1560..

Zonneveld, K. A. F. Susek E. and Fischer G. (2010). Interannual and seasonal variability of the organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst production in the coastal upwelling region off Cape Blanc (Mauritania). Journal of Phycology 46, 1: 202 – 215.

Elshanawany, R., Zonneveld, K.A.F., Ibrahim, M.I. and Kholeif, S.E.A. (2010). Distribution patterns of recent organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in relation to environmental parameters in the Mediterranean Sea. Palynology 34, 2: 233 - 260.

Holzwarth, U., Esper, O. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2010). Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts as indicators for oceanographic conditions and terrigenous input in the NW African upwelling region. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 159: 35-55.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Chen, L., Möbius, J. and Mahmoud, M.S. (2009). Environmental significance of dinoflagellate cysts from the proximal part of the Po-river discharge plume (off southern Italy, Eastern Mediterranean). Journal of Sea Research 62, 189-213.

Bouimetarhan, I., Marret, F., Dupont, L. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2009). Dinoflagellate cyst distribution in marine surface sediments off West Africa (17 – 6°N) in relation to sea-surface conditions, freshwater input and seasonal coastal upwelling. Marine micropaleontology 71: 113-130.
 
Mertens, K, Ribeiro, S., Bouimatarhan, I., Caner, H., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Dale, B., De Vernal, A., Ellegaard, M., Filipova, M., Godhe, A., Goubert, E., Grøsfjeld, K., Holzwarth, U., Kotthoff, U., Leroy, S.A.G., Londeix, L., Marret, F., Matsuoka, K., Mudie, P.J., Naudts, L., Peña-Manjarrez, J-L., Persson, A., Popescu, S-M., Pospelova, V., Sangiorgi, F., van der Meer, T.J., Vink, A., Zonneveld, K.A.F., Vercauteren, D., Vlassenbroeck, J., Louwye, S. (2009). Process length variation in cysts of a dinoflagellate, Lingulodinium machaerophorum, in surface sediments and its potential use as a salinity proxy. Marine Micropalaeontology 70, 54 - 69.
 
Bockelmann, F.-D.; Zonneveld, K.A.F.; Schmidt, M. (2007). Assessing environmental control on dinoflagellate cyst distribution in surface sediments of the Benguela upwelling region (eastern South Atlantic). Limnology and Oceanography 52, 2582-2594.

Esper, O. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2007). The potential of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts to reconstruct past sea-surface conditions in the Southern Ocean. Marine Micropaleontology 63, 185-212.
Holzwarth, U., Esper, O., Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2007). Distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in shelf surface sediments of the Benguela upwelling system in relationship to environmental conditions. Marine Micropaleontology 64, 91 - 119.

Richter, D., Vink, A., Zonneveld, K., Kuhlmann, H. and Willems, H. (2007). Calcareous dinoflagellate cyst distributions in surface sediments from upwelling areas off NW Africa, and their relationships with environmental parameters of the upper water column. Marine Micropaleontology 63, 201 – 228.

Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Susek, S. (2007). Effect of temperature, light and salinity on cyst production and morphology of Tuberculodinium vancampoae (Rossignol 1962) Wall 1967 (Pyrophacus steinii (Schiller 1935) Wall et Dale 1971). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 145, 77 - 88.

Matthiessen, J., De Vernal, A., Head, M., Okolodkov, Y., Ángel, P., Zonneveld, K. and Harland, R. (2005). Modern organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in Arctic marine environments and their (paleo-) environmental significance. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 79, 3-51.

Susek, E., Zonneveld, K.A.F., Fischer,G., Versteegh, G.J.M. and Willems, H. (2005). Organic walled dinoflagellate cyst production in relation to upwelling intensity and lithogenic influx in the Cape Blanc region (off north-west Africa). Phycological Research 53, 97-112.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Meier, K.J., Esper, O., Siggelkow, D., Wendler, I. and Willems, H. (2005). The (palaeo-) environmental significance of modern calcareous dinoflagellates: a review. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 79, 61-77.

Pross, J., Kotthoff, U. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2004). Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts as paleoenvironmental indicators in the Meso- and Cenozoic: potential and limits. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 78, 5-39.

Vink, A., Baumann, K-H., Böckel, B., Esper, O., Kinkel, H., Volbers, A., Willems, H., Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2004). Coccolithophorid and dinoflagellate synecology in the South and Equatorial Atlantic: Improving the paleoecological significance of phytoplankton microfossils. In: Wefer, G., Mulitza, S. and Ratmeyer, V. (eds.) The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary: reconstruction of material budgets and current systems. Springer, Berlin, pp. 121-142.

Vink, A., Brune, A., Höll, C., Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (2002). On the response of calcareous dinoflagellates to oligotrophy and stratification of the upper water column in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Palaeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 178, 53-66.

Esper, O. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2002). Distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the Southern Ocean (eastern Atlantic sector) between the subtropical Front and the Weddel Gyre. Marine Micropaleontology 46, 177-208.

Wendler, I., Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (2002). Production of calcareous dinoflagellate cysts in response to monsoon forcing off Somalia: a sediment trap study. Marine Micropaleontology 46, 1–11.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Hoek, R.P., Brinkhuis, H. and Willems, H. (2001). Geographical distributions of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in surficial sediments of the Benguela upwelling region and their relationship to upper ocean conditions. Progress in Oceanography 48, 25-72.

Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Brummer, G.J.A. (2000). (Palaeo-)ecological significance, transport and preservation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in the Somali Basin, NW Arabian Sea. Deep Sea Research II 47, 2229-2256.

Vink, A., Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (2000). Distributions of calcareous dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean, and their potential use in palaeoceanography. Marine Micropaleontology 38, 149-180.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Brune, A. and Willems, H. (2000). Spatial distribution of calcareous dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the South Atlantic Ocean between 13°N and 36°S. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 111, 197-223

Vink, A., Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (2000). Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in western equatorial Atlantic surface sediments: distribution and their relation to environment. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 112, 247-286

Höll, C., Karwath, B., Rühlemann, C., Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (1999). Palaeoenvironmental information gained from calcareous dinoflagellates: The Late Quaternary eastern and western tropical Atlantic Ocean in comparison. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 146, 147-164.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Höll, C., Janofske, D., Karwath, B., Kerntopf, B., Rühlemann, C. and Willems, H. (1999). Calcareous dinoflagellates as palaeo-environmental tools. In: Use of proxies in Paleoceanology: Examples from the South Atlantic. by Fischer, G. and Wefer, G. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 145-164.

Höll, C; Zonneveld, K.A.F. and Willems, H. (1998). On the ecology of calcareous dinoflagellates: the quaternary eastern Atlantic: Marine Micropaleontology 33, 1-25.


Zonneveld, K.A.F. (1997). Dinoflagellate cyst distribution in surface sediments of the Arabian Sea (northwestern Indian Ocean) in relation to temperature and salinity gradients in the upper water column. Deep Sea Research II 44, 1411-1443.


Peperzak, L., Verreussel, R., Zonneveld, K.A.F., Zevenboom, W. And Dijkema, R. (1996). The distribution of flagellate cysts on the Dutch continental shelf (North Sea) with emphasis in Alexandrium spp. And Gymnodinium catenatum (In. Yasumoto, T., Oshima, Y. and Fukuyo, Y. (editors) Harmful and toxic Algal Blooms, Intergovernemental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO 1996, 169-172.

Versteegh, G.J.M. and Zonneveld, K.A.F. (1994). Determination of (palaeo-) ecological preferences of dinoflagellates by applying Detrended and Canonical Correspondance analysis to Late Pliocene dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the south Italian Singa section. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 84, 181-199.