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Science 12 May 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5775, pp. 897 - 900
DOI: 10.1126/science.1123591
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Reports

Statistical Independence of Escalatory Ecological Trends in Phanerozoic Marine Invertebrates

Joshua S. Madin,1* John Alroy,1 Martin Aberhan,2 Franz T. Fürsich,3 Wolfgang Kiessling,2 Matthew A. Kosnik,4 Peter J. Wagner5

Ecological interactions, such as predation and bioturbation, are thought to be fundamental determinants of macroevolutionary trends. A data set containing global occurrences of Phanerozoic fossils of benthic marine invertebrates shows escalatory trends in the relative frequency of ecological groups, such as carnivores and noncarnivorous infaunal or mobile organisms. Associations between these trends are either statistically insignificant or interpretable as preservational effects. Thus, there is no evidence that escalation drives macroecological trends at global and million-year time scales. We also find that taxonomic richness and occurrence data are cross-correlated, which justifies the traditional use of one as a proxy of the other.

1 National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.
2 Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt-Universität, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
3 Institut für Palaöntologie, Universität Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
4 School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia.
5 Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: madin{at}nceas.ucsb.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Coupling of predation intensity and global diversity over geologic time.
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Changes in theoretical ecospace utilization in marine fossil assemblages between the mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic.
A. M. Bush, R. K. Bambach, and G. M. Daley (2007)
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Comment on "statistical independence of escalatory ecological trends in phanerozoic marine invertebrates"..
P. D. Roopnarine, K. D. Angielczyk, and R. Hertog (2006)
Science 314, 925d
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Comment on "statistical independence of escalatory ecological trends in phanerozoic marine invertebrates"..
G. P. Dietl and G. J. Vermeij (2006)
Science 314, 925e
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Response to Comments on "Statistical Independence of Escalatory Ecological Trends in Phanerozoic Marine Invertebrates".
J. S. Madin, J. Alroy, M. Aberhan, F. T. Fursich, W. Kiessling, M. A. Kosnik, and P. J. Wagner (2006)
Science 314, 925f
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)