Collaborative Research: Roles of Larval Settlement, Species Interactions and Physiological Adaptations during Colonization of Hydrothermal Vents

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Mullineaux 9315554 Vent communities are populated largely by endemic species that are restricted to an ephemeral environment where life- sustaining vent fluids may persist for periods as short as decades. It is known that physiological adaptations of some vent species play a role in dictating their distributions, but the roles that recruitment, competition and predation/biological disturbance play during vent colonization remain largely explored. This study will conduct a set of in situ manipulative experiments to test the roles of these processes in creating patterns of distribution of vents invertebrates. Basaltic settlement plates will be exposed in regions that differ in intensity of vent fluid flux to manipulate the intensity of physiological stress and nutrient availability, and colonization will be followed. These studies will address fundamental ecological processes in vent communities and provide a key link between studies of larva dispersal and population genetics. ***