Collaborative Research: Biodiversity, connectivity and ecosystem function in organic-rich whale-bone and wood-fall habitats in the deep sea

富含有机物的生境岛屿支持整个自然生态系统中的专门社区，并在维持α和β多样性方面发挥重要作用，从而促进适应性辐射和进化的新奇。鲸骨和木材福尔斯在深海中广泛存在，从根本上促进了生物多样性和进化的新奇;然而，这些富含有机物的后生生态系统中的生物多样性、连通性和生态系统功能的大规模模式基本上仍未被探索。PI提出了一种新的比较实验方法，以评估生物多样性和连通性的水深，区域和流域间的变化，以及生物多样性和生态系统功能之间的相互作用，在深海海底的鲸骨和木材砍伐栖息地。他们的实验将使用海底着陆器在东北太平洋和西南大西洋盆地的两个深度（1500和3000米），相距250-500公里，携带和保存骨骼和木材样本以及对照基质（玄武岩），并在15个月后定量恢复殖民组合。 每个深度将重复三次。 他们的实验将检验关于在能源有限的深海环境中利用这些资源丰富的生境的大型底栖动物和微生物的生物多样性（遗传学和分类学）和生物地理学的基本假设，并将探讨鲸骨和木材福尔斯作为模型实验系统的效用，以探讨深海中的连通性和分解者功能的模式。该项目将在五个方面产生更广泛的影响：（1）至少有两名研究生将进行博士学位。研究，三名本科生将参加研究巡航，并在该项目内编写高级论文。 (2)项目成果将纳入两所大学的本科生和研究生课程。(3)PI将根据项目结果在星期五港口实验室开发和提供一个新的研究生水平的夏季课程，题为深海生物多样性，连通性和生态系统功能。 巴西的圣保罗大学将免费提供类似的课程。(4)公众宣传将包括项目网站和巡航博客在夏威夷大学（UH）和奥本大学，并介绍在UH和奥本开放的房子。(5)研究结果将在保护论坛上公布，如皮尤海洋保护研究员年会。

Organic-rich habitat islands support specialized communities throughout natural ecosystems and often play fundamental roles in maintaining alpha and beta diversity, thus facilitating adaptive radiation and evolutionary novelty. Whale-bone and wood falls occur widely in the deep-sea and contribute fundamentally to biodiversity and evolutionary novelty; nonetheless, large-scale patterns of biodiversity, connectivity, and ecosystem function in these organic-rich metacommunity systems remain essentially unexplored. The PIs propose a novel comparative experimental approach to evaluate bathymetric, regional, and inter-basin variations in biodiversity and connectivity, as well as interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem function, in whale-bone and wood-fall habitats at the deep-sea floor. Their experiments will use bottom landers to carry and hold samples of bone and wood and a control substrate (basalt) at two depths (1500 and 3000 m), 250-500 km apart, in the NE Pacific and SW Atlantic basins, with quantitative recovery of the colonizing assemblages 15 month later. Each depth will have three replicates. Their experiments will test fundamental hypotheses concerning biodiversity (genetic and taxonomic) and biogeography of macrofaunal and microbial organisms exploiting these resource-rich habitats in energy limited deep-sea environments, and will explore the utility of whale-bone and wood falls as model experimental systems to address patterns of connectivity and decomposer function in the deep sea. The project will have broader impacts in five areas: (1) At least two graduate students will conduct Ph.D. research, and three undergraduate students will participate in research cruises and develop senior theses within the project. (2) Project results will be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate courses at two universities. (3) The PIs will develop and deliver a new a graduate-level summer course at Friday Harbor Laboratory entitled Deep-Sea Biodiversity, Connectivity and EcosystemFunction based on project results. A similar course will be offered at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil at no cost to NSF. (4) Public outreach will include project web sites and cruise blogs at both the University of Hawaii (UH) and Auburn University, and presentations at UH and Auburn open houses. (5) Results will be presented at conservation forums such as the annual meeting of Pew Fellows in Marine Conservation.