RAPID Collaborative Research: Short-term colonization processes at Costa Rica methane seeps

这个快速项目将进行5次潜水或双潜，以收集2009年3月在哥斯达黎加外12号土丘（997米）部署的一系列定殖实验。这些实验是机会主义地部署的，为了优化可以获得的信息，PI需要在12个月的时间范围内恢复它们。将研究岩石、木材、壳和管基质的早期定殖。将在6-12个月后出现的微生物、有孔虫和后生动物与在海参崴该项目的总体目标是综合物理、地质、化学和生物数据，全面了解渗漏产生的碳酸盐硬地生态系统对边缘的影响，研究的目标是：（a）比较哥斯达黎加和海桑海岭渗漏处的定居者，以评估不同氧气状况对厌氧甲烷氧化发展的重要性，硫化物氧化物和其他微生物代谢的硬基板上，并评估其在驱动原生动物和后生动物在甲烷渗漏演替的作用。(b)部署一套生物和非生物基质，以区分碳酸盐基质与其他硬质基质（木材，蛤蜊和贻贝壳，蠕虫管）的特定作用。(c)通过比较喷口物种常见的哥斯达黎加渗漏点与喷口物种不常见的海伯利脊渗漏点的定植情况，探索喷口和渗漏点定植过程的相似性。(d)确定是否有可诊断的同位素或其他生物标志物的签名，从新招募的哥斯达黎加微生物，有孔虫和动物种群在活跃与不活跃的渗漏，以及这些是否不同于海桑海岭。这些收藏品将为多样性学生的夏季研究项目提供材料。结合母项目的结果，研究将在3个教学机构的课程中传播。其他更广泛的影响包括社区推广（当地学校介绍;网站开发）和对若干未来科学家，包括代表性不足的群体（妇女;来自农村社区的第一代大学毕业生和本科生）进行跨学科的实践培训。

This RAPID project will conduct 5 submersible or ROV dives to collect a series of colonization experiments deployed in March 2009 on Mound 12 off Costa Rica (997 m). These experiments were deployed opportunistically, and to optimize the information that could be obtained, the PIs needed to recover them within a 12 month time frame. Early colonization of rock, wood, shell and tube substrates will be studied. The microbes, foraminiferans and metazoans present after 6-12 mo will be compared to those colonizing similar experiments to be deployed at Hydrate Ridge, where seeps occur within an oxygen minimum zone. The overall project goal is to integrate physical, geological, chemical and biological data to develop a holistic view of the influence of seep-generated carbonate hard-ground ecosystems on margins.The objectives of the research are to (a) Compare colonizers at seeps off Costa Rica and Hydrate Ridge to assess the importance of different oxygen regimes in the development of anaerobic methane oxidation, sulfide oxiders and other microbial metabolisms on hard substrates, and to evaluate their roles in driving protozoan and metazoan succession at methane seeps. (b) Deploy a suite of biotic and abiotic substrates to distinguish the specific roles of carbonate substrate from those of other hard substrates (wood, clam and mussel shells, worm tubes) available. (c) Explore the similarity of vent and seep colonization processes by comparing colonization at the Costa Rica seeps, where vent species are common, to the Hydrate Ridge seeps, where they are not. (d) Determine whether there are diagnosable biogeographic isotope or other biomarker signatures from newly recruited Costa Rica microbial, foraminiferal and animal populations at active vs. inactive seeps, and whether these differ from those at Hydrate Ridge.This research will involve international participation from Costa Rican scientists at the Univ. of Costa Rica. The collections will provide material for summer research projects by diversity students. In conjunction with results from the parent project, the research will be disseminated in coursework at 3 teaching institutions. Additional broader impacts include community outreach (local school presentations; web site development) and interdisciplinary, hands-on training of several future scientists, including underrepresented groups (women; first-generation university graduate and undergraduate students from rural communities).