Ecology of deep‐sea hydrothermal vent communities: A review

Abstract

Studies of the many active and inactive hydrothermal vents found during the past 15 years have radically altered views of biological and geological processes in the deep sea. The biological communities occupying the vast and relatively stable soft bottom habitats of the deep sea are characterized by low population densities, high species diversity, and low biomass. In contrast, those inhabiting the generally unstable conditions of hydrothermal vent environments exhibit high densities and biomass, low species diversity, rapid growth rates, and high metabolic rates. Biological processes, such as rates of metabolism and growth, in vent organisms are comparable to those observed in organisms from shallow‐water ecosystems. An abundant energy source is provided by chemosynthetic bacteria that constitute the primary producers sustaining the lush communities at the hydrothermal sites. Fluxes in vent flow and fluid chemistry cause changes in growth rates, reproduction, mortality, and/or colonization of vent fauna, leading to temporal and spatial variation of the vent communities. Vent populations that cannot adapt to modified flow rates are adversely affected, as is evidenced by high mortality or lower rates of colonization, growth, or reproduction. Substantial changes in biota have been witnessed at several vents, and successional cycles have been proposed for the Galapagos vent fields. Dramatic temporal and spatial variations in vent community structure may also relate to variations in larval dispersal and chance recruitment, as well as biotic interactions.

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

“…They contain a high diversity of chemoautotrophic bacteria, which form the core of the trophic structure around the vent. Other small or large animals (tubeworms, bivalves, limpets, barnacles, shrimp, crabs, gastropods) live off the chemosynthetic bacteria either eating them directly or harbouring them in their bodies (endosymbiotic or episymbiotic relationships) living off the organic compounds the bacteria produce (Lutz & Kennish, 1993). It takes a high level of specialisation to live in such extreme biotopes and thus many of the species recorded in hydrothermal vents are exclusive to this biotope (Van Dover, 2000;Tarasov et al, 2005).…”

A deep-sea hydrothermal vent community dominated by Stauromedusae

“…mytilid and vesicomyid bivalves, provannid gastropods), decapod crustaceans (e.g. bresiliid shrimp, bythograeid crabs), anthozoans, annelids (alvinellids), and vestimentiferans (Rona et al, 1986;Van Dover, 1990;Hessler and Lonsdale, 1991;Tunnicliffe, 1991;Lutz and Kennish, 1993;Desbruyeres et al, 1994). Herein, we offer the first account of a biological community dominated by stauromedusan scyphozoans at an active hydrothermal vent.…”

Subsurface hydrothermal processes and the bioenergetics of chemolithoautotrophy at the shallow-sea vents off Panarea Island (Italy)

“…In deep-sea vent environments, microbial communities take advantage of these energy sources and comprise the base of the food web for some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet (Felbeck and Somero, 1982;Imhoff and Hügler, 2009;Lutz and Kennish, 1993).…”