Co‑occurrence structure of late Ediacaran communities and influence of emerging ecosystem engineers

Understanding the roles of habitat filtering, dispersal limitations, and biotic interactions in shaping the organization of animal communities is a central research goal in ecology. Attempts to extend these approaches into deep time have the potential to illuminate the role of these processes over key intervals in evolutionary history. The Ediacaran marks one such interval, recording the first macroscopic benthic communities and a step-wise intensification in animal ecosystem engineering. Here, we use taxonomic co‑occurrence analysis to evaluate how community structure shifted through the late Ediacaran and the role of different community assembly processes in driving these changes. We find that community structure shifted significantly throughout the Ediacaran, with the most dramatic shift occurring at the White Sea‑Nama boundary (~550 Ma) characterized by a split between older, more enigmatic taxonomic groups (the ‘Ediacara-type’ fauna) and more recognizable (‘Cambrian-type’) metazoan..., Data collection began with a download from the Paleobiology Database (July 2021) of all macrofossil occurrences dated to the Ediacaran period (635-538ma). We searched the primary literature for additional fossil collections and incorporated these data into the initial occurrence data set. This final data set encompassed 1540 fossil specimens from 173 references. Collected data included genus, species, reported collection identification, stratigraphic unit, formation, member, lithological descriptions, modern latitude and longitude of collection, ichnogenera present, algae present, estimated water depth (shallow/deep at coarsest resolution), assemblage zone, and reference information for each fossil specimen. Assemblage zone assignments (the finest temporal units available to the Ediacaran period at present) were manually reviewed for each formation and member from a review of the chronostratigraphic literature, using radiometric dates, stratigraphic sequence, biostratigraphic correlatio..., , # Co‑occurrence structure of late Ediacaran communities and influence of emerging ecosystem engineers

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cc)

## Description of the data and file structure

The data was collected to test 1) how community structure changed across the Ediacaran period through the lens of taxonomic pairwise co-occurrence and 2) whether environmental factors, dispersal limitations, and ecosystem engineering by other taxa (e.g., burrowing worm fauna) significantly influenced co-occurrence. The data includes occurrence information for global Ediacaran macrofossils (e.g., genus, species, stratigraphic information, associated environmental factors) as well as information on local environmental conditions (presence of algae, estimated water depth, paleo latitude/longitude). The data also includes, in two supplemental files, a table of genus traits and a list of bioturbating ichnogenera. All analyses and community data preparation were ...

阐明生境过滤（habitat filtering）、扩散限制（dispersal limitations）以及生物间相互作用在塑造动物群落结构中的作用，是生态学研究的核心目标之一。将这些研究方法拓展至地质深部时间尺度，有望揭示演化历史关键时段内这些群落构建过程的具体作用。埃迪卡拉纪（Ediacaran）正是这样一个关键时段，它记录了地球上最早的大型底栖生物群落，以及动物生态系统工程作用的逐步强化过程。本研究借助分类群共现分析（taxonomic co-occurrence analysis），探究埃迪卡拉纪晚期群落结构的演变规律，以及不同群落构建过程对这些变化的驱动作用。

研究发现，整个埃迪卡拉纪期间群落结构发生了显著演变，其中以白海-Nama边界（约5.5亿年前，~550 Ma）处的转变最为剧烈：该边界标志着古老且更为神秘的分类群（即“埃迪卡拉型（Ediacara-type）”生物群）与辨识度更高的“寒武纪型（Cambrian-type）”后生动物的更替……

数据采集首先从古生物学数据库（Paleobiology Database，2021年7月）下载所有标注为埃迪卡拉纪（6.35亿至5.38亿年前）的大型化石出现记录。随后我们检索原始文献以补充额外的化石馆藏数据，并将其整合至初始出现数据集中。最终数据集共包含来自173篇参考文献的1540件化石标本。采集的数据集信息涵盖每件化石标本的属、种、馆藏编号、地层单位、组、段、岩性描述、化石产出点的现代经纬度、产出遗迹属（ichnogenera）、伴生藻类、估算水深（以粗分辨率划分为浅/深水环境）、生物组合带（assemblage zone）以及参考文献信息。生物组合带是当前埃迪卡拉纪可获取的最高时间分辨率单元，我们通过查阅年代地层学（chronostratigraphic）文献，结合放射性同位素测年数据、地层序列以及生物地层对比结果，对每个组和段的生物组合带划分进行了人工校核……

# 埃迪卡拉纪晚期群落的共现结构与新兴生态系统工程师的影响

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.69p8cz9cc)

## 数据与文件结构说明

本数据集的采集旨在验证两个科学问题：1）基于分类群两两共现分析视角，埃迪卡拉纪期间群落结构如何发生演变；2）环境因子、扩散限制以及其他类群（如潜穴蠕虫类群）的生态系统工程作用是否对共现模式产生显著影响。本数据集包含全球埃迪卡拉纪大型化石的出现记录（如属、种、地层信息、伴生环境因子）以及局域环境条件数据（如伴生藻类存在情况、估算水深、古经纬度）。此外，数据集附带两份补充文件：其一为属级性状表，其二为生物扰动（bioturbating）遗迹属列表。所有分析及群落数据预处理工作均……