Survival under stress : benthic foraminiferal patterns and Cenozoic biotic crises

Abstract

A principal conclusion of this thesis is, that benthic foraminifera are excellent recorders of paleoenvironments and paleoenvironmental change. Insight in their community structure, and changes in this through time, is still increasing and will add to their usefulness in the reconstruction of past environments. Moreover, we found that gradual processes affecting the paleoenvironment are as instrumental in the evolution of benthic communities as short-lived ecological crises.