Microbial ecology at cabled seafloor observatories

海底电缆观测站的微生物生态学

• 批准号: 134794-2011
• 负责人: Juniper, Kim
• 金额: $ 2.33万
• 依托单位: University of Victoria
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=569287
• 关键词: Microbial; ecology; cabled; seafloor; observatories

The VENUS and NEPTUNE cabled observatories operated by the University of Victoria offer unprecedented opportunities for the time series study of how marine organisms respond to changes in their environment. My research program will pioneer the use of these observatories to study the ecology of marine microorganisms. A series of research projects will develop an observatory toolbox of approaches and methodological protocols for the direct and indirect study of microbial processes that are important to ecosystem function. We will study how environmental factors influence the way in which microbes control the bioavailability of nitrogen, produce food for hydrothermal vent organisms and decompose organic debris in sediments. Direct studies will quantify microbial standing stock variations, community structure and metabolic processes, in relation to environmental variables. Indirect studies will focus on the dynamics of bioturbation, a key physical variable that influences microbial growth and metabolism. Two projects will be undertaken at the NEPTUNE observatory site in the Main Endeavour hydrothermal vent field on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. A remotely-activated water sampler will collect vent fluid samples for a study of microbial denitrification in the subsurface environment below the seafloor, in relation to fluid chemistry. The second hydrothermal project will use remote-controlled cameras to study the dynamics of macroscopic microbial mat growth in relation to fluid discharge and faunal grazing activity. At the NEPTUNE site in Barkley Canyon, on the continental margin, cameras and micro-profiling sensors will be used to investigate the relationship of bioturbation of surface sediments by the macrofauna, to seasonal habitat variables. In coastal Saanich Inlet, at the site of the VENUS observatory's future water column profiler instrument package, we will study microbial nitrification in the photic zone, emphasizing a previously observed imbalance in the two successive steps in nitrification (ammonium oxidation and nitrite oxidation) and its relationship to tidal mixing. This work will also serve to prepare experiments for an automated microbial gene analyzer to be installed on the VENUS profiler in 2012.

维多利亚大学运营的金星和海王星有线观测站为海洋生物如何应对环境变化的时间序列研究提供了前所未有的机会。我的研究计划将开创性地利用这些观测站来研究海洋微生物的生态学。一系列研究项目将开发一个观测站工具箱，其中包含方法和方法协议，用于直接和间接研究对生态系统功能重要的微生物过程。我们将研究环境因素如何影响微生物控制氮的生物利用度、为热液喷口生物生产食物以及分解沉积物中的有机碎片的方式。 直接研究将量化与环境变量相关的微生物存量变化、群落结构和代谢过程。间接研究将重点关注生物扰动的动力学，这是影响微生物生长和新陈代谢的关键物理变量。两个项目将在胡安德富卡海岭 Main Endeavor 热液喷口场的海王星观测站进行。远程激活的水采样器将收集喷口流体样本，用于研究海底以下地下环境中与流体化学相关的微生物反硝化作用。第二个热液项目将使用远程控制摄像机来研究与液体排放和动物放牧活动相关的宏观微生物垫生长的动态。在位于大陆边缘的巴克利峡谷的海王星站点，相机和微剖面传感器将用于研究大型动物群对表面沉积物的生物扰动与季节性栖息地变量的关系。在沿海的萨尼奇湾，在金星天文台未来水柱剖面仪仪器包的所在地，我们将研究透光区的微生物硝化作用，强调先前观察到的两个连续硝化步骤（铵氧化和亚硝酸盐氧化）的不平衡及其与潮汐混合的关系。这项工作还将为 2012 年安装在 VENUS 分析仪上的自动微生物基因分析仪做实验准备。