DEEPSETS
Deep-sea & Extreme Environments, Patterns of Species and Ecosystem Time-Series
Principle Investigator: Dr David Billett; National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Research consortium:
A Colaco, R. Serrão Santos University of the Açores; D Desbruyères, J. Galéron IFREMER,
Brest; A Vanreusel, University of Gent; P Tyler, J Copley National Oceanography Centre,
University of Southampton; D Billett, Tammy Horton, A Gooday National Oceanography
Centre, Southampton, Natural Environment Research Council;; A Tselepides, N Lampadariou
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Crete; N Boury-Esnault CNRS, Marseille; M Klages, J
Gutt Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven; G Paterson, A Glover Natural History Museum,
London; P Martinez Arbizu, K. George, Brigitte Hilbig Senckenberg Institute, German Centre
for Marine Biodiversity, Wilhelmshaven, Dr E. Ramirez Llodra (Institut Ciències del Mar,
Barcelona).
Key areas addressed:
Theme 1
 Taxonomic basis of biodiversity
o Focusing on (i) poorly known groups (small endobenthos - nematodes, copepods,
polychaetes) and (ii) poorly known habitats (abyssal sediments, vents, seeps, caves).
 Habitat diversity
o Documenting diversity in extreme/deep-sea habitats of contrasting productivity.
 Species assembly rules
o Combining morphological and molecular methods for species descriptions.
 Large-scale long-term change
o Response of ecosystems/faunal communities to global change over recent decades.
o Linking small-scale and short-term measurements to large-scale patterns.
 Functional diversity
o Comparing the functional complexity of the benthos in terms of trophic composition,
biomass spectra and production in deep-sea sites from contrasting productivity.
Theme 2
 Ecosystem metabolism
o Address changes in densities, composition, biodiversity and biomass at contrasting
sites and linking observed community patterns to rates of primary productivity.
 Key species and Functional groups
o Identify key species and functional groups and relate these to ecosystem function.
Links to objectives of MARBEF Core Strategic Programme:
 Identify European centres/repositories of deep-sea diversity data and compile data.
 Introduce new deep-sea and ocean pelagic sites equivalent to LTBR coastal sites.
 Establish links with corresponding centres of excellence.
 Establish a data policy and create populate databases (both morphological and molecular)
and provide access to web-based analytical tools.
 Standardize sampling methods and analytical tools.
 Analyze the data identifying both large-scale and long-term biodiversity patterns of benthos.
 Make all the gathered information available through the MARBEF website.
 Train young scientists and end-users through organized training workshops.
 Create a forum for discussion on large-scale, long-term patterns of marine biodiversity.
Duration of the project:
1
Start: 01 July 2005
End: 31 January 2009
Objectives:
DEEPSETS will bring together information and data from a diverse array of well-studied deep-sea
and extreme habitats. Deep-sea research in Europe has a number of sites that are being studied on a
long-term basis. This project aims to make the best use of the existing published and unpublished
research at these sites by improving collaboration between institutes and developing an
infrastructure that will allow insights into long-term change in deep-sea ecosystems on a large-scale
rather than focusing on single sites. The project will allow the initiation and continuation of timeseries studies in deep-sea habitats to complement the work at ATBI sites in shallow waters.
DEEPSETS will focus on 5 deep-sea and extreme habitat sites:
1. The Porcupine Abyssal Plain (proposed LTBR site)Eastern Mediterranean Sea (proposed
LTBR site)The MoMAR region hydrothermal vent site (Eiffel Tower / Lucky Strike vent
field) (proposed LTBR site)
4. Shallow water caves as a mesocosm of the deep sea (BIOMARE LTBR site)
5. Haakon Mosby Mud Volcano/ "Hausgarten" Site (proposed LTBR site)
DEEPSETS will address the following five main objectives:
1. To produce realistic biodiversity data of deep-sea taxa using traditional and novel methods.
2. To collate information in a database, including geographical and environmental data on
study sites. Establish links and exchange between existing databases.
3. To investigate short and long-term temporal changes at contrasting deep-sea reference sites.
4. To relate MARBEF data to other data sets to determine species distribution ranges in
European seas.
5. To integrate local diversity and observed temporal changes into regional diversity estimates.
Description of the work:
Introduction and Background
Our understanding of biodiversity, rate processes and long-term ecosystem change in deep-sea
and extreme habitat sites is poor in comparison to shallow waters. This is equally true for soft and
hard substrates. While Europe has several extreme habitat sites where long-term studies are taking
place, the research at the various sites is not coordinated. In addition, the time series analyses are
imperfect because of lack of expertise in certain taxa, which can only be solved by teams working at
the pan-European level. Moreover, to identify long-term trends it is necessary to compare results at
a number of deep-sea and shallow-water sites to identify whether the trends are really related to
global change. DEEPSETS proposes to compare biodiversity information at a number of extreme
locations, such as abyssal sediments, mud volcanoes, hydrothermal vents and sea caves and to
compare this with results from similar temporal studies at MARBEF shallow-water sites.
1. Porcupine Abyssal Plain – Proposed LTBR site
The Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP) has been studied by European projects over a 15 year period.
New samples will be collected in 2005/6. Work has been focused at 48ºN 16.5ºW. Seasonal fluxes
of particulate material are a feature of the PAP. Long-term ecosystem changes have been noted in
the relative abundances of foraminiferans, actinarians, polychaetes, tunicates, ophiuroids,
pycnogonids, and holothurians. Normally persistent key species have become rare, and rare species
have increased in abundance. It is vital to assess ecosystem change in all components of the benthic
community to provide a clearer picture of how global change in surface waters might affect deepsea communities. This needs to be achieved at the species level and to include all the major taxa and
size classes, but particularly the small endobenthos. In MARBEF, therefore, the consortium will
study critical groups at the species level. This will be done by sponsoring two joint PhD
studentships, one (metazoan meiofauna) to be hosted by the University of Crete and to be jointly
supervised by copepod specialists at Senckenberg, nematode specialists at UGENT and Crete, and
the PAP time series coordinators (SOC) and a second (macrofaunal polychaetes) to be hosted by the
2
Natural History Museum, London and SOC and to be jointly supervised with IFREMER. The
students will also compare samples with those collected at the Eastern Mediterranean time series
site (see below).
The major objectives at this site are to:
1.
Identify the 10 to 15 dominant nematode, copepod and polychaete species in the PAP
time series between 1989 and 2004, and in new samples as they become available.
2.
Collate and integrate data for all size classes (meiofauna to megafauna) and all taxa from
the PAP time series and determine temporal change in species dominance.
2. Eastern Mediterranean Sea – Proposed LTBR site
The Eastern Mediterranean is known as one of the most oligotrophic areas of the World’s oceans.
This results in a scarcity of macrofauna and meiofauna. related to very low levels of food
availability. Long-term sampling of the deep-sea benthos has been going on in the Eastern
Mediterranean between 2000 and 4000m since 1989. The oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean
contrasts strongly with the eutrophic PAP site. MARBEF intends to analyse 1) samples taken in the
Eastern Mediterranean to date and 2) new samples to be collected in 2006, to identify the dominant
species and to compare these with the PAP eutrophic site. Where possible we will compare the size
class, functional group and species diversity structure of the benthic community in the two areas.
The major objectives at this site are to:
1.
2.
Identify the 10 to 15 dominant nematode, copepod and polychaetes species in the Eastern
Mediterranean time series between 1989 and 2004, and in new samples in 2006.
Collate and integrate data for all size classes, assess temporal change and compare with
the PAP time series.
3. The MoMAR hydrothermal vent sites – proposed LTBR sites
International co-operation on geological and biological research of hydrothermal vent systems
were initiated in the 1970s in the MoMAR area (French-American FAMOUS and FARA bilateral
programmes). These were followed by the European MARFLUX AMORES, AMAR, VENTOX
and SEAHMA projects. A 10-year time series on biological and hydrothermal processes is
available at the Lucky Strike vent field. Lucky Strike is one of the largest known active vent fields
"in the modern ocean”. It is located at 37.3ºN 32.3ºW. MARBEF will compile, format, process and
analyse the time series data. A joint PhD study will be hosted by the University of the Azores and
will work on key species in Atlantic deep-sea chemosynthetic environments (hydrothermal vents
and cold seeps – see HMMMV below) with joint supervision by SOC, IFREMER, AWI and NHM.
The major objectives at this site are to:Document and process newly discovered species from the
Lucky Strike vent field.
2.
Characterise species using molecular and morphological approaches to taxonomy.
3.
Collate data and identify key species and changes in time by data mining through the
IFREMER BIOCEAN database.
4.
Analyse video/photographic images from seven submersible cruises
4. Haakon Mosby Mud Volcano (HMMV) and "Hausgarten" – Proposed LTBR sites
The HMMV site is located on the Norwegian–Barents–Spitsbergen continental margin. This area is
characterised large-scale mass wasting and smaller seafloor features. The HMMV is about 1 km in
diameter and rises up to 10 m above the seafloor, at depths of 1255-1265 m. The mud volcano has
highly gas-saturated sediments. There are strong geothermal gradients. Much of the area is
covered with bacterial mats lying over gas hydrates. There are large populations of pogonophora.
Research of the HMMV started in July 1999. Further international and multidisciplinary research
was conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 in some cases using the ROV "Victor 6000”. New cruises
are scheduled for 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Hausgarten site, 2500m, established in 1999, is the
first long-term station in polar deep-sea regions. It is situated in the western Fram Strait off
Spitsbergen. The site is visited annually to study seasonal and inter-annual variability in biological,
3
geochemical and sedimentological parameters. The station has been investigated during three
expeditions with the "Victor 6000" ROV. Work will be integrated with the chemosynthetic
environments through a joint studentship on chemosynthetic environments to be shared with the
MoMAR hydrothermal vent study and jointly supervised by all partners (Azores, SOES-SOC, AWI,
IFREMER and NHM).
The major objectives at this site are to:
1.
2.
3.
Identify and document dominant meiofaunal and macrofaunal species
Characterise species using molecular and morphological approaches to taxonomy.
Collate data on dominant species in all size classes in a database and analyse temporal
changes
5. La Ciotat 3 PP cave as a deep-sea analogue – BIOMARE LTBR site
La Ciotat 3PP Cave is a unique deep-sea habitat in the scuba zone. The cave has a thermal regime
of cold homeothermy similar to that of the deep Mediterranean. The cave has been studied intensely
for 14 years. The main results have been the discovery of a population of an hexactinellid sponge
species previously known only from the deep Mediterranean and a new carnivorous sponge. Deepsea tardigrades, foraminiferans, bryozoans, brachiopods and an undescribed echiuran also occur.
The cave may act as a refugia for species from warming of the Mediterranean Sea.
Phylogeographic studies of cave species is of particuliar interest, particularly to understand the
genetic flow between caves and caves and the deep sea. The cave will be studied by the combined
work of researchers at CNRS, SENCKENBERG and GDD-SOC.
The major objectives at this site are to:
1.
2.
3.
Identify the 10 to 15 dominant nematode, copepod and polychaete species in the cave
time series.
Characterise new species in all taxa using molecular and morphological approaches.
Collate and integrate data for all size classes and study variation with time.
Integrating Workshops:
Workshop 1: Hypothesis generation, analytical methodology, data standards and management
Objective: To maximizes the integration and use of available and generated data
Identify analytical tools and methodologies needed and available to address overall project
objectives and hypotheses generated.
Identify data standards for exchange, integration and analyses.
Workshop 2: Integration and Synthesis
Objectives: To produce a synthesis of biodiversity patterns in the extreme environments and to
produce papers on deep-sea biodiversity patterns in space and time.
This will be a practical workshop where participants will bring their data, integrated these and then
analyse the results in order to produce overview publications and to introduce the data to modeling
approaches. By bringing together researchers interested in different deep-sea habitats, regions and
faunal groupings with modelers and theoretical ecologists it should be possible to determine
commonalities and differences in a more integrated way.
Required from MARBEF:
1 PhD student to work on metazoan meiofauna (nematodes and copepods) from the PAP and
Eastern Mediterranean time-series
1 PhD student to work on polychaetes from the PAP and Eastern Mediterranean time series
(additional funding (6 k Euro) for self-funded student)
1 PhD student to work on chemosynthetic environments time series at the Lucky Strike and HMMV
sites.
4
Part-time, short-duration technical help to collate data from the contributing institutes and enter into
a database, hosted by different institutions depending on time series site.
Partner implications:
National Oceanography Centre – NERC George Deacon Division for Ocean Processes
Organise PAP time series sampling. Study of protozoan meiofauna and megafauna in time series.
Joint supervision of metazoan meiofauna and macrofauna PhD studies in Crete and NHM. Host
part-time technical help for PAP data management.
National Oceanography Centre – University of Southampton
Joint supervision of chemosynthetic PhD study hosted by the University of the Azores.
IFREMER
Provide time series data from Lucky Strike. Joint supervision of chemosynthetic PhD study at the
University of the Azores. Host part-time technical help for Lucky Strike data management.
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
Organise Eastern Mediterranean time series sampling. Host metazoan meiofauna PhD study (Year
2/3). Study of protozoan meiofauna and megafauna in time series.
University of Ghent
Supply previous metazoan meiofauna time series samples from PAP. Specialist nematode taxonomy
advice. Joint supervision of metazoan meiofauna PhD study in Crete.
Natural History Museum
Host PhD study on polychaete fauna in PAP time series. Specialist polychaete taxonomy advice for
PAP and Eastern Mediterranean time series studies. Joint supervision of chemosynthetic PhD study
hosted by the University of the Azores.
University of the Azores
Host chemosynthetic environments PhD study.
Senckenberg Institute
Organise Eastern Mediterranean time series sampling. Joint supervision of metazoan meiofauna
PhD study hosted by University of Crete. Host years 1 to 2 of metazoan meiofauna student project
studying PAP material.
AWI
Organise HMMV and Hausgarten time series sampling. Joint supervision of chemosynthetic PhD
study hosted by the University of the Azores. Host part-time technical help for HMMV and
Hausgarten data management.
Institute CNRS-DIMAR:
Organise La Ciotat 3 PP cave sampling. Taxonomic database and expertise in sponges and mysids.
Joint supervision of metazoan meiofauna and macrofauna PhD studies in Crete and NHM. Host
part-time technical help for cave data management.
5