Benthic Foraminifera as Environmental Indicators in Mediterranean Marine Caves: A Review

Abstract

Marine caves are characterized by wide environmental variability for the interaction between marine and continental processes. Their conditions may be defined as extreme for inhabiting organisms due to the enclosed morphology, lack of light, and scarcity of nutrients. Therefore, it is necessary to identify reliable ecological indicators for describing and assessing environmental conditions in these habitats even more than elsewhere. This review aims to provide the state of art related to the application of benthic foraminifera as proxies in the (paleo)ecological characterization of different habitats of marine caves. Special attention was addressed to a research project focused on Mediterranean marine caves with different characteristics, such as extent, morphology, freshwater influence, salinity, sediment type, oxygenation, and organic matter supply. This review aims to illustrate the reliability of foraminifera as an ecological and paleoecological indicator in these habitats. They respond to various environmental conditions with different assemblages corresponding to a very detailed habitat partitioning. Because marine caves may be considered natural laboratories for environmental variability, the results of these studies may be interpreted in the perspective of the global variability to understand the environmental drivers of future changes in marine systems.