Paleocommunity Replacements of Benthic Brachiopod in the Middle-Upper Devonian in the Longmenshan Area,Southwestern China:Responses to Sea Level Fluctuations

Twelve paleocommunities dominated by benthic brachiopod are recognized in the Givetian-Frasnian stages of the Devonian in the Longmenshan area, southwestern China, in which two kinds of brachiopod community replacement are classified. One is the abrupt replacement, represented by abrupt alternation between the Leiorhynchus community and Zhonghuacoelia-Striatopugnax community in the Frasnian Tuqiaozi Formation. The other is the gradual one, developed in the Givetian Guanwushan Formation, which had been completed by the shift of the Independatrypa lemma-Uncinulus heterocostellis-Emanuella takwanensis community via the Sinospongophyllum irregulare-Pseudomicroplasma fongi community to the Clathrocoilona spissa-Hexagonaria composite reef community. According to analyses of the paleocommunities, either the abrupt or gradual paleocommunity replacement of the Middle-Upper Devonian in the Longmenshan area is suggested as a response to the 5th-order sea level fluctuation due to the replacements of the paleocommunities in a tracts-system of depositional sequence. It is supposed that changes of paleocommunity diversity, one of the results of paleocommunity replacement, are depended on the range and magnitude of sea level fluctuation, but there is not a linear relationship between them. Furthermore, a suggestion is proposed that the concept of paleocommunity succession seem to be abandoned in the paleocommunity analysis because it almost never be practiced to recover the information of community succession in the geological record at present.

Community structure and composition of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota

Based on previously published species data(228 species in over 18 phyla) and field sampling(114 species and 18406 individuals) in the Chengjiang-Haikou-Anning area,we analyzed quantitatively the paleocommunity composition and structure of the Cambrian Chengjiang biota(Cambrian Series 2,eastern Yunnan,China).Arthropods dominate the community both in species diversity(species:37%) and in abundance(individuals:51.8%).Priapulids(individuals:22.6%) and brachiopods(individuals:16.3%) follow in abundance rank.The arthropod Kunmingella douvillei(26.2%),the priapulid Cricocosmia jinning-ensis(15.4%),and the brachiopod Diandongia pista(11%) are the three most abundant species.Ecological analyses show that the community was dominated by epifaunal organisms(species:63%,individuals:68.4%) followed by infaunal organisms(species:11.9%,individuals:25.9%),nektobenthic organisms(species:11.5%,individuals:2.6%),and pelagic organisms(species:5.3%,individuals:3.1%).The diverse feeding strategies,dominated by suspension feeders(species:35.6%,individuals:26.1%) and hunter/scavengers(species:31.1%,individuals:40.4%),indicate the former existence of a complex food chain and intense competition.Epifaunal vagrant omnivores(28.2%),infaunal vagrant hunter/scavengers(19.8%),epifaunal sessile suspension feeders(17.7%),and epifaunal vagrant hunter/scavengers(15.3%) were the most abundant ecological groups,represented primarily by arthropods,poriferans,priapulids,and brachiopods.Ecological group analyses reveal that the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota is similar in community patterns and functional relations to modern biotas in shallow marine settings.