1. Astronomical and atmospheric impacts on deep-sea hydrothermal vent invertebrates
- Author
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Pierre Legendre, Pierre-Marie Sarradin, Yann Lelièvre, Raymond W. Lee, Claudia P. Arango, Steve Mihály, Marjolaine Matabos, and Jozée Sarrazin
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,macrofaunal abundance ,ocean tides ,surface storms ,01 natural sciences ,Deep sea ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Hydrothermal circulation ,Hydrothermal Vents ,Abundance (ecology) ,hydrothermal vents ,Animals ,Seawater ,14. Life underwater ,Ecosystem ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,Invertebrate ,Ecology ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,Atmosphere ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Tidal Waves ,General Medicine ,15. Life on land ,Invertebrates ,Ocean dynamics ,Oceanography ,Habitat ,13. Climate action ,deep-sea observatory ,time-series analysis ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Geology ,Hydrothermal vent - Abstract
Ocean tides and winter surface storms are among the main factors driving the dynamics and spatial structure of marine coastal species, but the understanding of their impact on deep-sea and hydrothermal vent communities is still limited. Multidisciplinary deep-sea observatories offer an essential tool to study behavioural rhythms and interactions between hydrothermal community dynamics and environmental fluctuations. Here, we investigated whether species associated with a Ridgeia piscesae tubeworm vent assemblage respond to local ocean dynamics. By tracking variations in vent macrofaunal abundance at different temporal scales, we provide the first evidence that tides and winter surface storms influence the distribution patterns of mobile and non-symbiotic hydrothermal species (i.e. pycnogonids Sericosura sp. and Polynoidae polychaetes) at more than 2 km depth. Local ocean dynamics affected the mixing between hydrothermal fluid inputs and surrounding seawater, modifying the environmental conditions in vent habitats. We suggest that hydrothermal species respond to these habitat modifications by adjusting their behaviour to ensure optimal living conditions. This behaviour may reflect a specific adaptation of vent species to their highly variable habitat.
- Published
- 2017