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

彼得森9317735 喷口群落主要由地方特有物种组成，这些物种局限于一个短暂的环境，维持生命的喷口流体可能持续几十年。 众所周知，一些喷口物种的生理适应在决定其分布方面发挥了作用，但在喷口定殖过程中，补充、竞争和捕食/生物干扰所起的作用仍在很大程度上受到探讨。 这项研究将进行一系列现场操作实验，以测试这些过程在形成喷口无脊椎动物分布模式方面的作用。 玄武岩沉降板将暴露在不同的排气口流体流量的强度的区域，以操纵生理压力和营养物质的可用性的强度，并殖民化将遵循。 这些研究将涉及喷口群落的基本生态过程，并在幼虫扩散研究和种群遗传学研究之间提供关键联系。 ***

Peterson 9317735 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. ***