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

这个RAPID项目将进行5次潜水或ROV潜水，以收集2009年3月在哥斯达黎加（997米）附近的12号土墩上进行的一系列殖民化实验。这些实验是随机部署的，为了优化可以获得的信息，pi需要在12个月的时间框架内恢复它们。将研究岩石、木材、贝壳和管状基质的早期定植。6-12个月后出现的微生物、有孔虫和后生动物将与部署在水合物岭的类似实验中的微生物、有孔虫和后生动物进行比较，在水合物岭，渗漏发生在氧气最低的区域。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岩硬地生态系统对边缘地区的影响。本研究的目的是：(a)比较哥斯达黎加渗漏和水合物岭的定殖物，以评估不同的氧气制度在厌氧甲烷氧化、硫化物氧化剂和其他硬基质微生物代谢发展中的重要性，并评估它们在甲烷渗漏中驱动原生动物和后生动物演替中的作用。(b)部署一套生物和非生物基质，以区分碳酸盐基质与其他可用的硬基质（木材、蛤壳和贻贝壳、蠕虫管）的具体作用。(c)通过比较通风口物种常见的哥斯达黎加渗漏和水合物脊渗漏的定殖，探索通风口和渗漏定殖过程的相似性。(d)确定是否存在可诊断的生物地理同位素或其他生物标志物特征，这些特征来自新招募的哥斯达黎加活跃与不活跃渗漏处的微生物、有孔虫和动物种群，以及这些特征是否与水合物脊的不同。这项研究将涉及哥斯达黎加大学的哥斯达黎加科学家的国际参与。这些藏品将为多元化学生的暑期研究项目提供材料。结合母项目的研究结果，该研究将在三所教学机构的课程中传播。其他更广泛的影响包括社区外展（当地学校的介绍；网站开发）和对几名未来科学家的跨学科实践培训，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）。

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).