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POM in macro-/meiofaunal food webs associated with three flow regimes at deep-sea hydrothermal vents on Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge

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Abstract

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems host both symbiotic and non-symbiotic invertebrates. The non-symbiotic vent fauna is generally assumed to rely on free-living chemoautotrophic bacteria as their main food source but other sources such as detritus have recently been suggested to be a part of the invertebrate diets. Little is known about how food availability influences the distribution of vent organisms on a small scale. In addition, the feeding ecology and role of small, often numerically dominant invertebrates, the meiofauna is poorly understood at vents. In this study, we used stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis to investigate the role of particulate detritus in the diets of macro- and meiobenthic invertebrates within three vent assemblages at Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge, and Northeast Pacific. Particulate organic matter of a detrital origin became more important in the diet of invertebrates in assemblages typically associated with low-hydrothermal flow intensities. Meiobenthic species occupied several different feeding guilds and trophic levels in the assemblages investigated. We conclude that small-scale spatial variability in food sources is an important feature of vent food webs and that spatial patterns observed here and elsewhere are shaped by variations in hydrothermal discharge.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the ROPOS crew and the Captain and crew of the R/V Thomas G. Thompson for assistance during sampling and C. Lalande and R. Léveillé for collecting samples. Thanks to M. Morineaux for help with sorting and preparing samples for stable isotope analysis and to A. Adamowicz, L. Cournoyer and J. McKay for performing the stable isotope analysis. Also, many thanks to J. Marty for valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was funded by an NSERC Canada Collaborative Research Opportunities grant to the CanRidge project and an NSERC Discovery grant to SKJ. This study was performed in Canada and is in compliance with current laws.

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Author notes

  1. Christian Levesque

    Present address: John Abbott College, 21,275 Lakeshore Road, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, H9X 3L9, Canada

  2. S. Kim Juniper

    Present address: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Department of Biology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3020, Victoria, BC, V8W 3N5, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre GEOTOP-UQAM-McGill, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Helene Limén & S. Kim Juniper

  2. The Swedish Parliament, Research Service, 100 12, Stockholm, Sweden

    Helene Limén

Authors
  1. Helene Limén
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  2. Christian Levesque
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Correspondence to Helene Limén.

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Communicated by R.J. Thompson.

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Limén, H., Levesque, C. & Kim Juniper, S. POM in macro-/meiofaunal food webs associated with three flow regimes at deep-sea hydrothermal vents on Axial Volcano, Juan de Fuca Ridge. Mar Biol 153, 129–139 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0790-1

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