Temporal and spatial variation in temperature experienced by macrofauna at main endeavour Hydrothermal vent field

Type Article
Date 2015-12
Language English
Author(s) Lee Raymond W.1, Robert Katleen2, Matabos MarjolaineORCID3, Bates Amanda E.4, Juniper S. Kim5, 6, 7
Affiliation(s) 1 : Washington State Univ, Sch Biol Sci, Pullman, WA 99164 USA.
2 : Univ Southampton, Natl Oceanog Ctr, Southampton SO14 3ZH, Hants, England.
3 : Inst Camot Ifremer EDROME, Ctr Bretagne, REM EEP, Lab Environm Profond, F-829280 Plouzane, France.
4 : Univ Southampton, Natl Oceanog Ctr Southampton, Ocean & Earth Sci, Southampton SO14 3ZH, Hants, England.
5 : Univ Victoria, Ocean Networks Canada, Victoria, BC V8Y 2Y2, Canada.
6 : Univ Victoria, Sch Earth & Ocean Sci, Victoria, BC V8Y 2Y2, Canada.
7 : Univ Victoria, Dept Biol, Victoria, BC V8Y 2Y2, Canada.
Source Deep-sea Research Part I-oceanographic Research Papers (0967-0637) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2015-12 , Vol. 106 , P. 154-166
DOI 10.1016/j.dsr.2015.10.004
WOS© Times Cited 15
Keyword(s) Hydrothermal vents, Community ecology, Thermal biology, Endeavour, Time-series
Abstract A significant focus of hydrothermal vent ecological studies has been to understand how species cope with various stressors through physiological tolerance and biochemical resistance. Yet, the environmental conditions experienced by vent species have not been well characterized. This objective requires continuous observations over time intervals that can capture environmental variability at scales that are relevant to animals. We used autonomous temperature logger arrays (four roughly parallel linear arrays of 12 loggers spaced every 10–12 cm) to study spatial and temporal variations in the thermal regime experienced by hydrothermal vent macrofauna at a diffuse flow vent. Hourly temperatures were recorded over eight months from 2010 to 2011 at Grotto vent in the Main Endeavour vent field on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a focus area of the Ocean Networks Canada cabled observatory. The conspicuous animal assemblages in video footage contained Ridgeia piscesae tubeworms, gastropods (primarily Lepetodrilus fucensis), and polychaetes (polynoid scaleworms and the palm worm Paralvinella palmiformis). Two dimensional spatial gradients in temperature were generally stable over the deployment period. The average temperature recorded by all arrays, and in some individual loggers, revealed distinctive fluctuations in temperature that often corresponded with the tidal cycle. We postulate that this may be related to changes in bottom currents or fluctuations in vent discharge. A marked transient temperature increase lasting over a period of days was observed in April 2011. While the distributions and behavior of Juan de Fuca Ridge vent invertebrates may be partially constrained by environmental temperature and temperature tolerance, except for the one transient high-temperature event, observed fluid temperatures were generally similar to the thermal preferences for some species, and typically well below lethal temperatures for all species. Average temperatures of the four arrays ranged from 4.1 to 11.0 °C during the deployment, indicating that on an hourly timescale the temperature conditions in this tubeworm community were fairly moderate and stable. The generality of these findings and behavioural responses of vent organisms to predictable rhythmicity and non-periodic temperature shifts are areas for further investigation
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Lee Raymond W., Robert Katleen, Matabos Marjolaine, Bates Amanda E., Juniper S. Kim (2015). Temporal and spatial variation in temperature experienced by macrofauna at main endeavour Hydrothermal vent field. Deep-sea Research Part I-oceanographic Research Papers, 106, 154-166. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2015.10.004 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00283/39428/