NSF LogoNSF Award Abstract - #0350554
Biogeography and community structure in mussel beds at Pacific hydrothermal vents
NSF Org OCE

Abstract
Intellectual Merit. Funding is requested to continue community structure and biogeographic analysis of organisms associated with hydrothermal vents. Work completed to date has led to the acquisition of a unique, quantitative assessment of diversity and faunal similarities and differences among vent and seep mussel beds from vent sites along the East Pacific Rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and seep sites in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. These samples provide a rich context within which to interpret the faunal composition and structure in mussel beds in an area south of the Easter Microplate (38S) and in the Lau and Fiji back-arc basins. Specimens will be collected using our standard gear from two discrete mussel beds at each of the 3 primary sites. Once collected, samples will be processed using the standard protocol established in our lab, and identified with the help of the extensive voucher collection maintained at The College of William & Mary, and with the aid of taxonomic specialists as necessary. A subset of appropriately preserved sorted samples will be made available for molecular analyses, which will be undertaken in collaboration with R. Vrijenhoek. Molecular analyses will focus on taxa where there is a need to test for cryptic species or phenotypic plasticity and selected other taxa of interest to Vrijenhoek and Van Dover, in addition to the suite of taxa that Vrijenhoek is separately funded to analyze (primarily tubeworms, mussels, crabs, clams). The proposed community structure and faunistic analyses will contribute to our understanding of the degree of evolutionary alliance of vent faunas within the Pacific Ocean basin and to potential barriers or conduits to dispersal. The work is of particular interest because the study sites have been strategically chosen to address biogeographic issues relating to the degree of isolation of adjacent back-arc basin systems, the relationship of these back-arc faunas to the most-southern-known vent faunas on the mid-ocean ridge (at 38S), and the relationships among these faunas and sites already studied north of the Easter Microplate on the East Pacific Rise. Broader Impact. Numerous undergraduates and graduate students will benefit from participation in field programs and analysis of samples. Aspects of the research are incorporated into the PIs undergraduate and graduate teaching. Results will be published in the professional literature and will be made available to the public through web-based resources and through public lectures by the PI and her students.