Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

This dataset provides dates and locations of colonization sampler deployments and recoveries from East Pacific Rise (EPR) deep-sea vents, 1998-2017.

Colonists were collected on experimental surfaces (sandwiches) constructed from six 0.7-cm-thick Lexan plastic plates separated by 1 cm spacers, creating a lattice 10 cm on a side (Bayer et al, 2011; note in 1998 colonists were collected on basalt blocks). Sandwiches were deployed and recovered by the submersible Alvin. Deployment durations were 4, 2, and 11 months respectively for the recoveries at 9, 11, and 22 months after an eruption that took place in January 2006. The thermal environment at the base of each sandwich was measured with the Alvin temperature probe on deployment and recovery for ca 1–2 min until a clear maximum value was obtained. Habitat chemistry was measured at 11 and 23 months.

BCO-DMO Processing Notes:
version 1 [2018-03-30]
- added conventional header with dataset name, PI name, version date
- re-formatted date from d-Mon-yy to yyyy-mm-dd

version 2 [2020-08-06]:
- includes new row for 1998 cruise, AT0319
- includes new right-most columns: monthsSinceEruption, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, minimumDepthInMeters, maximumDepthInMeters
- renamed "End" to "eventDate".

version 3 [2020-08-24]:
- changed monthsSinceEruption on cruiseID=AT2623 from 108 to 106.

NSF award abstract:
The long-term aim of this project is to understand the effects of disturbance on species occurrence and regional diversity in vent systems. The investigator is working toward that goal by conducting field studies on larval dispersal and colonization processes, and by collaborating with theoretical ecologists. The present project investigates a unique set of field observations gathered from decade-long monitoring of vents before and after a recent catastrophic eruption on the East Pacific Rise (EPR). The specific objectives are to determine whether succession is deterministic (or are there alternative stable states?), and whether disturbance at one vent field can influence community structure on a larger spatial scale. Answering these questions requires characterization of larval exchange between vents and of the effect of pioneer colonists on successional trajectory. The approach is to characterize species composition of larvae and colonists at three vent sites on the EPR: one that was disturbed by the eruption (9 degrees 50 minutes N) and two that remained undisturbed (9 degrees 47 minutes N and 9 degrees 30 minutes N). The investigators are running out of time to process the samples, because they degrade over time and the specimens are at risk of losing morphological detail which is critical for species identification. This award has modest funding to focus specifically on species identification and enumeration, without attempting to interface with models or population genetic analyses. These will come later.

The question of how vent communities persist despite living in patchy, ephemeral habitat has intrigued scientists since the discovery of vents in the late 1970s. A necessary synthesis of the influence of larval connectivity on metacommunity dynamics at the regional scale continues to elude us. This project works toward that synthesis by characterizing critical aspects of larval exchange and community succession at vents on the well-studied EPR. This study has general application to vent systems globally because it challenges the assumption that vent succession is deterministic, and it will contribute to our understanding of spatial scales of larval connectivity. The data on larval exchange and community resilience that will result from this study are precisely the kind needed for metapopulations modeling, for prediction of vent community response to anthropogenic events such as seafloor mining, and to inform management efforts at the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

NSF Award Abstract:
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.