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

该项目正在调查深海热液喷口附近新发现的动物和微生物群落，这些动物和微生物似乎只栖息在凉爽、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，它们是否对科学来说是新的，以及它们在群落中如何发挥作用。这个新群落的发现可能是由常驻微生物的生产推动的，它可能会改变我们对非活动喷口及其对深海生物多样性和生产力的贡献的看法。该项目在四个不同领域具有广泛影响：1)为非活性硫化物的可持续利用（开采）政策提供信息；2)为BCO-DMO的全球数据系统和nsf资助的存储库做出贡献，使我们的数据可用于其他时间、空间和分类尺度的研究；3)通过加强德克萨斯州Eagle Pass纪念初中的K-12科学教育来提高公众的科学素养，其中约98%的西班牙裔和2%的美洲原住民学生以及大量的英语学习者和移民；4)通过让代表性不足和边缘化群体的学生加入本科实习项目，发展多元化的劳动力队伍。海底加热、还原流体的热液喷吐发生在全球板块构造边界和板块中部热点地区，一直是地质学、化学和生物学研究的热门课题。然而，这种喷发最终是短暂的，在流体流动停止后，只留下富含硫化物矿物的矿床。该项目调查了生活在这些较少研究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，一些栖息在非活性硫化物中的微生物和动物物种在海洋环境的其他地方没有发现，这表明硫化物是一种独特的栖息地，与其他海底地形特征不同。该项目的主要目标是在所有三个生命领域（真核生物、细菌和古细菌）中表征非活性硫化物生态系统的物种和功能多样性，确定哪些动物物种特有或主要与非活性硫化物相关，并探索控制这些关联的生物和地质特征。研究人员正在东太平洋隆起北纬9-10度之间进行实地研究，地点包括轴向峰顶槽内的地点，以及最近发现的远离现代喷口特征的离轴地点。这一新的生物群落的发现，居住在热液喷口区不活跃的硫化物特征中，由常驻的化学岩石营养微生物提供燃料，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。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

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.