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

富含有机物质的栖息地岛屿在整个自然生态系统中支持专门的群落，并经常在维持阿尔法和贝塔多样性方面发挥基本作用，从而促进适应性辐射和进化的新颖性。鲸骨和木头瀑布广泛存在于深海，从根本上促进了生物多样性和进化的新颖性；然而，在这些富含有机物质的准群落系统中，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。公共投资倡议提出了一种新的比较实验方法，以评估深海海底鲸骨和林木生境中生物多样性和连通性的水深、区域和流域间差异，以及生物多样性和生态系统功能之间的相互作用。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相距250-500公里的两个深度(1500米和3000米)携带和保持骨骼和木材样本以及控制基质(玄武岩)，并在15个月后定量恢复殖民组合。每个深度将有三个重复。他们的实验将测试有关生物多样性(遗传和分类学)和大型动物和微生物的生物地理学的基本假设，这些生物在能源有限的深海环境中利用这些资源丰富的栖息地，并将探索鲸骨和木材瀑布作为研究深海连接和分解功能模式的模式实验系统的用途。该项目将在五个方面产生更广泛的影响：(1)至少两名研究生将进行博士研究，三名本科生将参与研究巡航并在项目范围内撰写高级论文。(2)项目成果将纳入两所大学的本科生和研究生课程。(3)PIS将根据项目成果，在星期五港实验室开发和提供一个新的研究生级别的暑期课程，题为“深海生物多样性、连通性和生态系统功能”。巴西圣保罗大学将提供类似的课程，NSF不收取任何费用。(4)公众宣传将包括夏威夷大学(UH)和奥本大学(UH)的项目网站和巡航博客，以及在UH和奥本大学的开放日介绍。(5)结果将在保护论坛上公布，例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.