What factors might govern the growth pattern of Brachiopods?
Environmental factors that govern growth are salinity, temperature, nutrient availability, and irregular events such as storms, predation, starvation, turbidity, and changes in calcite compensation depth. Brachiopods have three major types of growth lines. There are major lines, microgrowth lines, and disturbance lines. Major lines are seasonal. Microgrowth may be daily growth lines. Disturbance lines are related to irregular environmental events such as storms, starvation, changes in salinity, or damage by predators. These growth patterns are useful for evaluating ages, environmental changes, and other factors in the life of the organism. See; Gaspard, D. , 1990, Growth stages in articulate brachiopod shells and their relation to biomineralization, McKinnon,, Lee, and Campbell, eds, “Brachiopods through time” Rotterdam: Balkema.
