Trajectories in functional diversity after disturbance at vents on the East Pacific Rise

热液喷口支持深海中的生命绿洲，并居住着使用化学能而不是光合作用作为其食物网基础的不寻常生物。 然而，由于喷口位于海底地质活跃区，火山爆发等灾难性自然扰动可能会使整个群落消失。该项目的主要目标是量化这些社区从灾难性干扰中恢复的速度，并确定哪些过程影响其恢复力。该项目侧重于社区的结构（物种多样性）和功能（性状多样性）。 研究人员将检查东太平洋海隆活跃部分的喷口，那里的喷发扰动发生在十年的时间尺度上。这些活动将创造一个前所未有的长期（14年）定量时间序列的殖民物种的组成和功能。将基于特征的分析应用于喷口的生物演替问题，有可能改变我们对其他零散、短暂和区域相连的生态系统的复原力的看法。通过考虑性状如何随时间变化，研究人员可以解开哪些物种水平的特征最影响丰度和分布。 由于深海采矿对深海喷口造成人为干扰的可能性越来越大，项目目标具有广泛意义。其他影响包括加强代表性不足的少数群体对海洋科学的参与，并为深海喷口物种功能特征的国际数据库开发作出贡献，深海热液喷口栖息的独特的、以化学合成为燃料的动物群受到构造和喷发的干扰，可能使整个群落灭绝。该项目的主要目标是量化这些社区从灾难性干扰中恢复的速度，并确定哪些过程影响其恢复力。重点是喷口上的一个活跃的部分东太平洋隆起的喷发扰动发生在十年的时间尺度。殖民化和幼虫供应的实地数据被用来表征不仅物种演替，但也最近（2006年）爆发后的轨迹功能多样性。一个新的，有前途的方法来殖民化的研究来自于纳入基于特征的功能多样性分析。功能性状分析在陆地和淡水系统中越来越被认为是一种整体回答生态问题的工具，但性状分析并不经常应用于海洋系统。通过考虑外来殖民者的特征如何随着时间的推移而变化，研究人员可以解开哪些物种水平的因素最影响丰度和分布。该项目将创建一个前所未有的长期（14年）定量时间序列的殖民物种的组成和功能。它包括多个喷口地点，以涵盖生境条件的全部多样性，并通过幼虫供应评估当地过程和区域连通性。在个别网站的实地观察有助于更广泛的问题时，放置在元共生理论的背景下。在这一理论框架内，诸如此类的实地数据可用于回答这样的问题，如在某一特定地点消灭喷口群落如何影响整个变栖性的持久性，以及哪些喷口地点对区域生物多样性的贡献最大，这一奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，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予以支持。

Hydrothermal vents support oases of life in the deep sea and are inhabited by unusual organisms that use chemical energy instead of photosynthesis as the basis of their food web. However, because the vents occur in geologically active areas of the seafloor, entire communities can be eradicated by catastrophic natural disturbances such as eruptions. The main objectives of this project are to quantify how quickly these communities recover from catastrophic disturbance and to determine what processes influence their resilience. The project focuses on both the structure (species diversity) and function (trait diversity) of the communities. The investigators will examine vents on an active segment of the East Pacific Rise where eruptive disturbance occurs on decadal time scales. These activities will create an unprecedented long-term (14-year) quantitative time-series of colonist species composition and function. The application of trait-based analysis to the question of biological succession at vents has the potential to change the way we think about resilience in other patchy, transient and regionally-connected ecosystems. By considering how traits change over time, the researchers can untangle which species-level characteristics most influence abundance and distribution. The project objectives have broad significance with the growing potential for human-caused disturbances at deep-sea vents through deep-sea mining. Additional impacts include strengthening participation of under-represented minorities in marine science and contributing to international database development for functional traits of deep-sea vent species.The unique, chemosynthesis-fueled fauna inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents are subject to tectonic and eruptive disturbance that can eradicate entire communities. The main objectives of this project are to quantify how quickly these communities recover from catastrophic disturbance and to determine what processes influence their resilience. The focus is on vents on an active segment of the East Pacific Rise where eruptive disturbance occurs on decadal time scales. Field data on colonization and larval supply are used to characterize not only species succession but also the trajectory of functional diversity after a recent (2006) eruption. A new, promising approach to the colonization studies comes from incorporating trait-based analysis of functional diversity. Functional trait analysis is increasingly recognized in terrestrial and freshwater systems as a tool to holistically answer ecological questions, but trait analysis has not been often applied to marine systems. By considering how traits of incoming colonists change over time, the investigators can untangle which species-level factors most influence abundance and distribution. This project will create an unprecedented long-term (14-year) quantitative time-series of colonist species composition and function. It includes multiple vent sites to encompass the full diversity of habitat conditions, and assesses both local processes and regional connectivity through larval supply. Field observations at individual sites contribute to broader questions when placed in the context of metacommunity theory. In this theoretical framework, field data such as this can be used to answer such questions as how the eradication of the vent community at a particular site affects the persistence of the metacommunity overall, and which vent sites contribute most to regional biodiversity.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.