Effects of Disturbance and Larval Supply on Communities at Hydrothermal Vents

概述：本项目的长期目标是了解扰动对喷口系统物种出现和区域多样性的影响。研究人员正在通过对幼虫扩散和定殖过程进行实地研究以及与理论生态学家合作来实现这一目标。本项目调查了东太平洋海隆最近一次灾难性喷发前后长达十年的喷口监测所收集的一套独特的实地观测资料。具体目标是确定继承是否是确定性的（或者是否存在替代的稳定状态？），以及在一个喷口区的干扰是否会影响更大空间尺度上的群落结构。要解决这些问题，就需要对喷口之间的幼虫交换和先驱殖民者对演替轨迹的影响进行定性。该方法是表征物种组成的幼虫和殖民者在三个喷口网站上的EPR：一个是由喷发（9度50分N）和两个保持不受干扰（9度47分N和9度30分N）。 调查人员没有时间处理样本，因为它们会随着时间的推移而降解，标本有可能失去形态细节，而形态细节对物种鉴定至关重要。该奖项有适度的资金，专门专注于物种识别和计数，而不试图与模型或人口遗传分析接口。这些稍后会来。智力优势：自20世纪70年代末发现喷口以来，喷口群落如何在生活在斑块状、短暂的栖息地中的情况下持续存在的问题一直引起科学家的兴趣。 一个必要的综合幼虫连接的影响，在区域尺度上的metacompatibility动态继续逃避我们。该项目致力于通过充分研究EPR表征喷口幼虫交换和群落演替的关键方面来实现这一综合。这项研究具有普遍的应用，全球性的喷口系统，因为它挑战了假设，喷口演替是确定性的，它将有助于我们了解幼虫连接的空间尺度。这项研究将产生的关于幼虫交换和群落复原力的数据正是集合种群建模所需的数据，可用于预测喷口群落对海底采矿等人为事件的反应，并为马里亚纳海沟海洋国家纪念碑的管理工作提供信息。研究者将通过参与以下活动来扩大本研究的影响-通过在伍兹霍尔建立的伙伴关系教育计划（PEP）招募有前途的本科生，代表少数民族学生参加研究。PEP的目标是增加海洋和环境科学的多样性;它由该地区的6个科学机构赞助。预算资金用于在两个夏天将更多的学生纳入该计划，特别是从事喷口生态研究。此外，PI Mullineaux将继续通过教授研究生课程，让本科生通过WHOI SSF计划参与喷口研究，并通过伍兹霍尔科学和技术教育伙伴关系将海洋科学转移到当地社区，继续她在教育和推广方面的长期努力。

Overview: The long-term aim of this project is to understand the effects of disturbance on species occurrence and regional diversity in vent systems. The investigator is working toward that goal by conducting field studies on larval dispersal and colonization processes, and by collaborating with theoretical ecologists. The present project investigates a unique set of field observations gathered from decade-long monitoring of vents before and after a recent catastrophic eruption on the East Pacific Rise (EPR). The specific objectives are to determine whether succession is deterministic (or are there alternative stable states?), and whether disturbance at one vent field can influence community structure on a larger spatial scale. Answering these questions requires characterization of larval exchange between vents and of the effect of pioneer colonists on successional trajectory. The approach is to characterize species composition of larvae and colonists at three vent sites on the EPR: one that was disturbed by the eruption (9 degrees 50 minutes N) and two that remained undisturbed (9 degrees 47 minutes N and 9 degrees 30 minutes N). The investigators are running out of time to process the samples, because they degrade over time and the specimens are at risk of losing morphological detail which is critical for species identification. This award has modest funding to focus specifically on species identification and enumeration, without attempting to interface with models or population genetic analyses. These will come later. Intellectual Merit: The question of how vent communities persist despite living in patchy, ephemeral habitat has intrigued scientists since the discovery of vents in the late 1970s. A necessary synthesis of the influence of larval connectivity on metacommunity dynamics at the regional scale continues to elude us. This project works toward that synthesis by characterizing critical aspects of larval exchange and community succession at vents on the well-studied EPR. This study has general application to vent systems globally because it challenges the assumption that vent succession is deterministic, and it will contribute to our understanding of spatial scales of larval connectivity. The data on larval exchange and community resilience that will result from this study are precisely the kind needed for metapopulations modeling, for prediction of vent community response to anthropogenic events such as seafloor mining, and to inform management efforts at the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.Broader Impacts: The investigator will broaden the impact of this research by engaging under-represented minority students into research through recruitment of promising undergraduates via the well-established Partnership Education Program (PEP) in Woods Hole. The objective of PEP is to increase diversity in the Ocean and Environmental Sciences; it is sponsored by 6 scientific institutions in the region. Funds are budgeted to bring additional students into the program in two summers, specifically to work on vent ecological research. In addition, PI Mullineaux will continue her long-term efforts at education and outreach through teaching graduate courses, engaging undergraduates into vents research through the WHOI SSF program, and transitioning ocean science to the local community through the Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership.