Extreme environments in a changing ocean

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The oceans are undergoing rapid change that have dramatic consequences for ocean ecosystems. This proposed work examines the disruption of seafloor communities in extreme circumstances: volcanic eruptions, venting and habitat destruction from encroachment of anoxic (no oxygen) water. We will study disrupted in which to examine animal, population and community responses to extreme stress to understand responses and adaptations. Many coastal areas are losing oxygen because of eutrophication and warming. Working in low oxygen settings - a west coast fjord and at hot vents - we will determine the limiting conditions for several species in the field. New seafloor observatories (VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada) allow direct access to instruments and cameras yielding long-term records of fine-scale variability. We will examine how variability affects tolerance to anoxic influences for bottom dwelling species. As hypoxia (low oxygen) expands, it compresses available seafloor habitat thus we can study how species will interact. Remotely operated vehicles will map species distributions as hypoxic levels change; similarly, we can document changes in mobile animals at hot vents using cameras and sensors to document the most extreme conditions of variability, response and migration.