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

彼得森9317735喷口群落主要由特有物种组成，这些物种仅限于短暂的环境中，在那里维持生命的喷口流体可能会持续几十年。众所周知，一些喷口物种的生理适应对它们的分布起着决定作用，但补充、竞争和捕食/生物干扰在喷口定殖化过程中所起的作用仍在很大程度上被探索。这项研究将进行一系列现场操作实验，以测试这些过程在创造无脊椎动物喷口分布模式方面的作用。玄武岩沉降板将暴露在喷口流体流动强度不同的区域，以控制生理胁迫和养分有效性的强度，并将随之定居。这些研究将探讨喷口群落的基本生态过程，并提供幼虫扩散研究和种群遗传学之间的关键联系。***

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. ***