BENFEP: a quantitative database of benthic foraminifera from surface sediments of the eastern Pacific

Abstract

Benthic foraminifera are important components of the ocean benthos and play a major role in ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem functioning. Generating ecological baselines for ocean monitoring or biogeographical distributions requires a reference dataset of recent census data. Moreover, the information from their modern biogeography can be used to interpret past environmental changes on the seafloor. In this study, we provide the first comprehensive quantitative benthic foraminifera database from surface sediments of the eastern Pacific (BENFEP). Through the collation of archival quantitative data on species abundance and their homogenization according to the most recent taxonomic standards, we are able to provide a database with 3077 sediment samples, corresponding to 2509 georeferenced stations of wide geographical (60∘ N–54∘ S) and water depth (0–7280 m) coverage. The quantitative data include living, dead, and living plus dead assemblages obtained from 50 published and unpublished documents. As well as describing the data collection and subsequent harmonization steps, we provide summarized information on metadata, examples of species' distributions, potential applications of the database, and recommendations for data archiving and publication of benthic foraminiferal data. The database is enriched with meaningful metadata for accessible data management and exploration with R software and geographical information systems. The first version of the database (BENFEP_v1, Diz et al., 2022a, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.947086) is provided in short and long format, and it will be upgraded with new entries and when changes are needed to accommodate taxonomic revisions.