Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC03 Undergraduate Education

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Markus, N, , University of California, Santa Cruz, USA, nilauro@bigfoot.com

Mullineaux, L, S, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, USA, lmullineaux@whoi.edu

Peterson, C, H, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Morehead City, USA,

Lenihan, H, S, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Morehead City, USA,

FAUNAL SUCCESSION FOLLOWING AN EXPERIMENTAL CHANGE IN THERMOCHEMICAL ENVIRONMENTS AT HYDROTHERMAL VENTS ON THE EAST PACIFIC RISE (EPR)

Zonation along thermochemical gradients at hydrothermal vents near 9N, EPR, is often characterized by vestimentiferan tube worms and polychaetes in warm diffuse flows, and by serpulid polychaetes and benthic foraminiferans in the cooler peripheral zone. These faunal assemblages are not fixed in time or space because vents erupt and subside within decades, causing communities to replace one another. Although previous studies have described the establishment and collapse of communities at specific locations, the role of biological interactions in the observed faunal succession remains unknown. This study simulates an eruption within the peripheral zone, and the cessation of flow in the warm zone by means of a classical reciprocal transplant experiment. Results indicate that a fraction of the transplanted vestimentiferans and polychaetes can survive in the cooler peripheral zone. Likewise, a percentage of the transplanted serpulids and foraminiferans can survive in warmer diffuse flows. Furthermore, reduced settlement onto transplanted substrate seems to indicate that biogenic cues created by the previous community may inhibit settlement in the new zone.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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