Foraminifera Associated With Swirled Spartina Patens Beds on Perched Marshes Along the Rocky Coastline of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

Abstract

Perched marshes in Lunenburg County differ in exposure to prevailing waves (from most to least exposed: Crescent Beach, Blue Rocks, Feltzen South). We sampled the middle marsh, recording replicates’ dried masses. In picking stage 1 (PS1), the first 400 foraminifera, whether agglutinated or calcareous-walled, were picked and identified. From these data we calculated the Shannon Function H and compared the between-locale signals of benthic foraminifera using a relative-dominance index, ACW, for agglutinated and calcareous-walled foraminifera. Crescent Beach was a distinct locale with much medium-grained quartz sand and abundant allochthonous calcareous foraminifera (hence ACW < 1). The other sites’ ACWs ranged from ∼50–100. There was a significant negative ACW:residue mass correlation. In picking stage 2 (PS2), the remaining agglutinated foraminifera were picked. The Feltzen South perched marsh yielded only Miliammina fusca, perhaps reflecting high %N and %C. Meanwhile, Trochammina inflata was abundant at Crescent Beach and Blue Rocks.