Collaborative Research: Life after Death: Do Inactive Sulfides Fuel a Unique Ecosystem at the Deep Seafloor?

该项目正在调查一个新发现的深海热液喷口附近的动物和微生物群落，该群落似乎只栖息在凉爽、不活跃的硫化物特征中。主要目标是确定哪些物种生活在这些特征上，它们是否是科学上的新物种，以及它们如何在社区中发挥作用。 这一新群落的发现可能是由常驻微生物的产生推动的，它可能会改变我们对不活跃喷口及其对深海生物多样性和生产力的贡献的看法。 该项目在四个不同的领域产生了广泛的影响：1）为非活性硫化物的可持续利用（采矿）提供政策信息; 2）为全球数据系统和NSF资助的BCO-DMO数据库做出贡献，使我们的数据可用于其他时间，空间和分类尺度的研究用途; 3）通过加强K-12教育来提高公众的科学素养，在德克萨斯州鹰通行证的纪念初中，大约98%的西班牙裔和2%的美国原住民学生和大量的英语学习者和移民;以及4）通过让来自代表性不足和边缘化群体的学生参加本科实习生课程来发展多元化的劳动力。全球各地的板块构造边界和板块中部热点都有海底加热还原流体的热液喷发，这一直是地质、化学和生物学研究的热门课题。 然而，这种排放最终是短暂的，在流体流动停止后只留下富含硫化物的矿床。该项目调查了生活在这些研究较少的非活性硫化物特征上的生物，以了解它们的生态学及其与矿物基质的关系。 最近的发现表明，在海洋环境的其他地方没有发现一些栖息在非活性硫化物中的微生物和动物物种，这表明硫化物是一个独特的栖息地，与其他海底地形特征不同。 项目的主要目标是确定所有三个生命领域（真核生物、细菌和古细菌）的非活性硫化物生态系统的物种和功能多样性，确定哪些动物物种是地方性的或主要与非活性硫化物有关，并探索制约这些联系的生物和地质特征。研究人员正在东太平洋海隆上的轴向峰槽内的地点以及最近发现的远离现代排气特征的离轴地点进行北纬9-10度之间的实地研究。这一新的生物群落栖息在热液喷口地区的非活性硫化物特征中，由常驻化能无机营养微生物提供燃料，这一发现可能会改变我们对这些生态系统在深海生物多样性和生产力中的作用的看法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This project is investigating a newly discovered community of animals and microbes near deep-sea hydrothermal vents that appears to inhabit only cool, inactive sulfide features. The main objectives are to determine what species live on these features, whether they are new to science, and how they function in the community. The discovery of this novel community, which may be fueled by production of resident microbes, is likely to change the way we think about inactive vents and their contribution to deep-sea biodiversity and productivity. This project has broad impact in four different areas: 1) Informing policy for sustainable use (mining) of inactive sulfides; 2) Contributing to global data systems and the NSF-funded repository at BCO-DMO to make our data available for research use at other temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales; 3) Increasing public scientific literacy by enhancing K-12 education in the sciences at Memorial Junior High in Eagle Pass TX with about 98% Hispanic and 2% Native American students and a high number of English Language Learners and migrants; and 4) Developing a diverse workforce by engaging students from under-represented and marginalized groups into undergraduate intern programs. Hydrothermal venting of heated, reduced fluids from the seafloor occurs globally at plate tectonic boundaries and mid-plate hotspots and has been the subject of vigorous geological, chemical and biological research. However, this venting is ultimately transient, leaving behind only the sulfide mineral-rich deposits after the fluid flow stops. This project investigates the organisms living on these lesser studied inactive sulfide features in order to understand their ecology and associations with the mineral substratum. Recent discoveries indicate that some microbial and animal species inhabiting inactive sulfides are not found elsewhere in the marine environment, suggesting the sulfides serve as a unique habitat, distinct from other seafloor topographic features. The main project objectives are to characterize the species and functional diversity of the inactive sulfide ecosystem across all three domains of life (eukaryotic, bacterial, and archaeal), determine which animal species are endemic or predominantly associated with inactive sulfides, and explore the biological and geological characteristics governing those associations. The investigators are conducting field studies between 9-10 degrees N on the East Pacific Rise at sites within the axial summit trough as well as at recently discovered off-axis sites away from modern day venting features. The discovery of this novel community of organisms inhabiting inactive sulfide features at hydrothermal vent fields, fueled by resident chemolithotrophic microorganisms, is likely to change the way we think about the role of these ecosystems in deep-sea biodiversity and productivity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.