Large-scale culturing of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, its growth in, and tolerance of, variable environmental conditions.

This article focuses on the culturing experiments conducted on the planktic foraminifera species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, a dominant calcifying protist in polar oceans and an important proxy for paleoceanographic studies. The study demonstrates that N. pachyderma can survive, grow, and calcify across a wide range of independently varied environmental conditions including temperature (2–7°C), salinity (29.8–36.7), pH (7.8–8.4), and carbonate chemistry, showing resilience and adaptability through observed low mortality rates and the ability to enter and recover from dormancy. The experiments also revealed variable growth patterns among individuals and offspring, with food availability potentially playing a significant role in recovery from dormancy and growth rates. These findings have implications for understanding the species' response to ongoing Arctic Ocean changes such as warming and acidification, as well as for improving the interpretation of paleoenvironmental records derived from N. pachyderma shells.