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Foraminiferal distribution and diversity, Madang Reef and Lagoon, Papua New Guinea

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Abstract

In the Madang Lagoon, on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG), distinct groups of foraminifera, defined by numerical Q-mode cluster analysis of foraminiferal species occurrences, occupy four major environments and sedimentary regimes, generally aligned parallel to the coast: (1) the harbor and bay inlets, which have large fresh-water runoff and organic detrital inputs; (2) the fringing reefs along the west side of the lagoon which are influenced by coastal factors such as overhanging mangroves or fresh-water runoff; (3) the central lagoon floor which is over 50 m deep and covered with fine sand and patch reefs rising from it; and (4) the reef barrier with adjacent live coral-covered fore-reef slope and generally sandy back-reef slope. The four clusters are also mirrored in both species richness and Fisher alpha diversity analysis. Cluster 4 includes 79 species of large, thick-shelled miliolids, robust agglutinated species, calcarinids, and amphisteginids (Fisher α ≥20) that occur on the coral-rich barrier reef and back-reef. Cluster 3 has 50 species (Fisher α=8–20) and occupies the central lagoon floor. Cluster 2 has 25 or fewer species (Fisher α=2–6) and occurs on the shallow fringing reefs. Cluster 1 is the least diverse (≤7 species, Fisher α ≤2) and occurs in the harbors and bays in the mouths of larger rivers and streams. The larger, endosymbiont-bearing foraminifera (alveolinellids, soritids, amphisteginids, nummulitids, and calcarinids) generally live on the back- and fore-reef slopes and in the lagoon, avoid the organic-rich coastal and harbor habitats, and preferentially dwell in well-lit environments to the bottom of the lagoon. The river mouths and bays are unusual for reef systems because of their high organic content, which creates low-oxygen and nutrient-rich conditions. Here the foraminiferal fauna is dominated by only a few and, for the most part, particularly thin-shelled and highly fragile species. Each faunal group contains a number of numerically abundant indicator species that do not occur in other faunal clusters. This implies low horizontal transport rates within the reef and lagoon complex and signifies that faunal mixing among the cluster groups is limited. Foraminiferal death assemblages may thus be autochthonous and retain information regarding the original community structure. They may also preserve environmental information useful in paleoecological studies and they are good ecological indicators of reef and lagoon habitats.

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Acknowledgements

J.H.L. is particularly thankful to Diane Christiansen and Matthew Jebb (past-Director) of the Christiansen Research Laboratory (CRL) at Madang for many courtesies and help extended during two collecting trips, and to Jeremy, Jamison, and Susie Lipps for assistance in collecting samples with a pipe dredge in a small boat. Kenneth Severin, Yan Song, and Bernard Ormsby assisted in collecting in PNG. J.H.L. also thanks the Jais Aben Resort and Riwa Village for living arrangements and much other help during two field trips to the CRL. R. Buddemeier kindly provided temperature and salinity data obtained by J. Oliver. We also appreciate thoughtful discussions with Lukas Hottinger and comments from Joan Bernhard, David Haig, and David Scott on an earlier version of this manuscript. B.G. Hatcher and R.E. Dodge, Editors of Coral Reefs, provided help in making this paper much better. Collection and study of the material by J.H.L. was supported by NSF grant EAR 84-08001 and a Christiansen Research Institute Fellowship. The Swiss Science and the German Science Foundations supported M.R.L.'s research. A Pacific Rim Project grant from the University of California provided partial aid in the preparation of this paper. We gratefully thank all these organizations and people. This is a CRL contribution and University of California Museum of Paleontology contribution number 1756.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Paläontologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 , Bonn, Germany

    M. R. Langer

  2. Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    J. H. Lipps

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Correspondence to M. R. Langer.

Appendix 1: List of foraminiferal species in alphabetical order

Appendix 1: List of foraminiferal species in alphabetical order

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Alveolinella quoyi (d'Orbigny, 1826)

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Ammonia convexa (Collins, 1958)

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Amphisorus hemprichii Ehrenberg, 1839

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Amphistegina bicirculata Larsen, 1976

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Amphistegina lessoni d'Orbigny, 1826

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Amphistegina lobifera Larsen, 1976

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Amphistegina papillosa Said, 1949

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Amphistegina radiata (Fichtel and Moll, 1798)

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Anomalinella rostrata (Brady, 1881)

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Asanonella tubulifera (Heron-Allen and Earland, 1915)

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Assilina ammonoides (Gronovius, 1781)

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Assilina heterosteginoides (Hofker, 1933)

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Asterorotalia concinna (Millet, 1904)

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Baculogypsina sphaerulata (Parker and Jones, 1860)

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Borelis pulchra (d'Orbigny, 1839)

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Borelis schlumbergeri (Reichel, 1937)

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Buliminoides williamsonianus (Brady, 1881)

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Calcarina spengleri (Gmelin, 1788)

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Clavulina pacifica Cushman, 1924

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Edentostomina cultrata (Brady, 1881)

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Elphidium craticulatum (Fichtel and Moll, 1798)

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Elphidium galeraensis (Baccaert, 1987)

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Elphidium limbatum (Chapman, 1909)

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Elphidium striatopunctatum (Fichtel and Moll, 1798)

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Epistomaroides punctulatus (d'Orbigny, 1826)

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Gaudryina robusta Cushman, 1913

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Haddonia torresiensis Chapman, 1898

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Hauerina fragilissima (Brady, 1884)

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Hauerina pacifica Cushman, 1917

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Heterocyclina tuberculata (Möbius, 1880)

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Heterolepa preacincta (Karrer, 1868)

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Heterostegina depressa d'Orbigny, 1826

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Heterostegina operculinoides Hofker, 1927

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Lachlanella parkeri (Brady, 1881)

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Marginopora vertebralis Quoy and Gaimard, 1830

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Neoeponides bradyi (LeCalvez, 1974)

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Neorotalia calcar (d' Orbigny, 1839)

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Nonion japonicum Asano, 1938

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Nummulites cummingii (Carpenter, 1860)

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Parrellina hispidula (Cushman, 1936)

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Parrellina pacifica (Collins, 1958)

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Parrina bradyi (Millett, 1898)

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Pegidia dubia (d'Orbigny, 1826)

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Planispirinella exigua (Brady, 1879)

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Pseudomassilina macilenta (Brady, 1884)

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Quinqueloculina pseudoreticulata Parr, 1941

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Quinqueloculina sidebottomi (Rasheed, 1971)

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Schlumbergerina alveoliniformis (Brady, 1879)

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Sigmoilopsis minuta (Collins, 1958)

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Siphogenerina virgula (Brady, 1879)

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Siphoniferoides siphoniferus (Brady, 1881)

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Sorites discoideus (Flint, 1899)

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Sorites marginalis (Carpenter, 1856)

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Sorites orbiculus Ehrenberg, 1839

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Sorites orbitolitoides (Hofker, 1930)

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Sorites variabilis Lacroix, 1941

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Spiroloculina attenuata Cushman and Todd, 1944

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Textularia oceanica Cushman, 1932

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Langer, M.R., Lipps, J.H. Foraminiferal distribution and diversity, Madang Reef and Lagoon, Papua New Guinea. Coral Reefs 22, 143–154 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-003-0298-1

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