Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework

Abstract

Species inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents are strongly influenced by the geological setting, as it provides the chemical-rich fluids supporting the food web, creates the patchwork of seafloor habitat, and generates catastrophic disturbances that can eradicate entire communities. The patches of vent habitat host a network of communities (a metacommunity) connected by dispersal of planktonic larvae. The dynamics of the metacommunity are influenced not only by birth rates, death rates and interactions of populations at the local site, but also by regional influences on dispersal from different sites. The connections to other communities provide a mechanism for dynamics at a local site to affect features of the regional biota. In this paper, we explore the challenges and potential benefits of applying metacommunity theory to vent communities, with a particular focus on effects of disturbance. We synthesize field observations to inform models and identify data gaps that need to be addressed to answer key questions including: (1) what is the influence of the magnitude and rate of disturbance on ecological attributes, such as time to extinction or resilience in a metacommunity; (2) what interactions between local and regional processes control species diversity, and (3) which communities are "hot spots" of key ecological significance. We conclude by assessing our ability to evaluate resilience of vent metacommunities to human disturbance (e.g., deep-sea mining). Although the resilience of a few highly disturbed vent systems in the eastern Pacific has been quantified, these values cannot be generalized to remote locales in the western Pacific or mid Atlantic where disturbance rates are different and information on local controls is missing.

sFDvent: A global trait database for deep‐sea hydrothermal‐vent fauna

“…Meanwhile, as one might expect given publication and sampling bias (Supporting Information Appendix S2), the North Pacific has the highest number of scored taxa, emphasizing a need to score traits in less well‐sampled regions. Furthermore, despite the fundamental importance of reproductive traits in ecology (Mullineaux et al, ), trait scoring for “Reproductive Type”, “Larval Development” and “Dispersal Mechanism” did not have sufficient coverage to be included in sFDvent v.1. This is, however, now already being addressed by collaborators, further emphasizing the importance of building databases like sFDvent for: highlighting gaps and biases that need to be filled and resolved; generating new directions for research agendas; and promoting collaborative approaches for gap filling across a research community.…”

“…Meanwhile, as one might expect given publication and sampling bias (Supporting Information Appendix S2), the North Pacific has the highest number of scored taxa, emphasizing a need to score traits in less well-sampled regions. Furthermore, despite the fundamental importance of reproductive traits in ecology (Mullineaux et al, 2018), trait scoring for "Reproductive Type", "Larval Development" and "Dispersal…”

Exploring Environmental DNA (eDNA) to Assess Biodiversity of Hard Substratum Faunal Communities on the Lucky Strike Vent Field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and Investigate Recolonization Dynamics After an Induced Disturbance

“…sites, though primarily from the dispersing local larval pool (Mullineaux, 2014). These metapopulations may also be at risk of destruction in case of large-scale mining, limiting recolonization capabilities, especially if the other populations are too far away to replenish impacted sites (Juniper, 2002;Mullineaux et al, 2018). It is possible that the newly recruited community is more diverse upon settlement and that taxa are lost over time in response to competition for space and/or food, and predation (e.g., grazing) (Micheli et al, 2002;Mullineaux et al, 2003;Sancho et al, 2005).…”

“…The effects of mining activities on animal communities differ from natural disturbances, as mining would include not only the removal of substratum and associated faunal communities by machinery, but also generate a particulate plume that could smother individuals, as well as alter venting activity and fluid flow by clogging fluid channels (Juniper, 2002;Van Dover, 2011. If the scale of this destruction is widespread, these actions could not only hinder recovery, but may force the affected habitat past its tipping point, causing irreversible damages (Lotze et al, 2011;Veraart et al, 2012;Mullineaux et al, 2018). The current in situ experiment simulates a minor disturbance event in which fluid flow or chemistry was not altered.…”

Impacts of altered disturbance regimes on community structure and biodiversity mediated by fecundity–tolerance interactions

“…The need for deep-sea stewardship has recently been highlighted in a flurry of prominent papers (Boetius & Haeckel, 2018;Dunn et al, 2018;Mengerink et al, 2014;Van Dover et al, 2018). Effective stewardship will demand a better understanding of species coexistence in these environments, in particular given the known and potential impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on vent ecosystems (Du Preez & Fisher, 2018;Mullineaux et al, 2018;Van Dover, 2014). Vent communities are dominated by sessile invertebrates that gain resources from vent fluids by means of endosymbiotic relationships (in which one symbiont lives inside the other) with chemoautotrophic microbes (which derive energy from inorganic compounds in the vent fluids).…”