Comparative Ecology of Hydrothermal Vent Populations: Species Composition, Abundance and Trophic Relationships in Soft Sediments

自从十年前发现壮观的热液喷口生态系统以来，研究人员一直在研究这些生产系统滋养和维持的实际机制。化学合成生产被认为是有机能源的压倒性优势，支持喷口的海洋生物，光合作用产生的来源是次要的。然而，这一想法需要一些严格的测试。格拉斯尔博士和他的同事的这项研究将首先解决一个基本问题，即是否可以使用稳定的同位素技术在周围的非喷口底栖动物中追踪到化学合成衍生的碳。如果能在这个系统中应用稳定的同位素，这些研究人员将试图辨别这种贡献是如何随着距离喷口的距离而变化的，以及软沉积物底栖动物的群落结构是如何跟踪化学合成碳的贡献的，这些结构包括物种组成和丰度、大小分布、繁殖状态和常见物种幼体的比例。

Since the discovery of the spectacular hydrothermal vent ecosystems a decade ago, researchers have been investigating the actual mechanisms by which these productive systems are nourished and maintained. Chemosynthetic production is hypothesized to be the overwhelmingly dominant for of organic energy supporting the marine life at vents, with photosynthetically produced sources being minor. This idea needs some rigorous testing, however. This investigation by Dr. Grassle and co-workers will address first the basic question of whether chemosynthetically derived carbon can be traced in the surrounding non-vent benthic fauna using stable isotope techniques. If stable isotopes can be applied in this system these researchers will try to discern how the contribution varies with distance from the vents, and how the community structure of the soft-sediment benthic fauna, in terms of species composition and abundance, size distribution, reproductive state and proportion of juveniles of common species, tracks the contribution of chemosynthetic carbon.