@article {Lee2015,
	title = {{Temporal and spatial variation in temperature experienced by macrofauna at Main Endeavour hydrothermal vent field}},
	journal = {Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers},
	volume = {106},
	year = {2015},
	pages = {154{\textendash}166},
	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{\textendash}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 {\textdegree}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 behavioral responses of vent organisms to predictable},
	keywords = {ROV Jason (Remotely Operated Vehicle)},
	doi = {10.1016/j.dsr.2015.10.004},
	author = {Lee, R W and Robert, K and Matabos, M and Bates, A E and Juniper, S K}
}
@article {Levin2013,
	title = {{Ecological release and niche partitioning under stress:lessons from dorvilleid polychaetes in sulfidic sediments at methane seeps}},
	journal = {Deep-Sea Research. Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography},
	volume = {92},
	year = {2013},
	pages = {214{\textendash}233},
	abstract = {Organisms inhabiting methane seep sediments are exposed to stress in the form of high levels of hydrogen sulfide, which result mainly from sulfate reduction coupled to anaerobic methane oxidation. Dorvilleidae (Polychaeta) have successfully invaded this ecosystem, and multiple species in divergent genetic clades co-occur at high densities. At methane seeps in the NE Pacific off California and Oregon, the genera Ophryotrocha, Parougia and Exallopus are especially well represented. To test the hypothesis that dorvilleid coexistence is facilitated by niche partitioning through sulfide tolerance and trophic patterns, we examined dorvilleid species-specific patterns of occurrence and nutrition at methane seeps off Eel R. [ER] on the Californian continental slope and at Hydrate Ridge [HR] on the Oregon continental slope, and in two habitats (clam bed and microbial mat) characterized by lower and higher hydrogen sulfide levels, respectively. Microelectrode measurements of hydrogen sulfide enabled characterization of environmental sulfide levels for species sampled in background sediment cores and in colonization trays. Dorvilleids tolerated H2S levels from 10~$μ$M to over 2.6~mM, with the majority of species inhabiting sediments with similar environmental H2S concentrations (median 85{\textendash}100~$μ$M). Dorvilleid species richness was greater at HR than ER, but did not differ between clam bed and microbial mat habitats. Species distribution patterns reflected preferences for ER clam bed (lower sulfide levels), ER mat and HR clam bed (moderate sulfide levels), or HR mat (very high sulfide levels). Nutritional patterns, including trophic diversity and functional similarity, were examined using community stable isotope metrics based on $δ$15N and $δ$13C. Within each region, dorvilleid species exhibited multiple trophic strategies. Co-existing congeners typically exhibited distinct isotope signatures, suggesting trophic partitioning. Trophic diversity and $δ$15N range for whole assemblages (measured by Total Hull Area and Standard Elliptical Area using species averages) and functional redundancy or species packing (measured as distance to nearest neighbor) among species and individuals were generally higher at ER, where sulfide levels were lower than at HR. In contrast, average trophic diversity among individuals within a species was greater at HR than ER. In colonization experiments involving agar-based manipulations of sulfide in tray sediments that mimicked clam bed and mat conditions, dorvilleids comprised 68{\%} and 48{\%} of colonists at ER and HR, respectively. Dorvilleid species richness was higher in trays that were initially more sulfidic. However, habitat exerted stronger influence on the composition of colonizing dorvilleids than did sulfide additions. In the NE Pacific, regional, habitat and vertical (down-core) variation in hydrogen sulfide creates complex environmental heterogeneity at methane seeps, promoting high diversity of stress-tolerant taxa such as dorvilleid polychaetes.},
	keywords = {HOV Alvin (Human Occupied Vehicle), ROV Jason (Remotely Operated Vehicle)},
	issn = {0967-0645},
	doi = {10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.02.006},
	url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064513000635},
	author = {Levin, L A and Ziebis, W and Mendoza, G and Bertics, V J and Washington, T and Gonzalez, J and Thurber, A R and Ebbe, B and Lee, R W}
}
@article {Beinart2012,
	title = {{Evidence for the role of endosymbionts in regional-scale habitat partitioning by hydrothermal vent symbioses}},
	journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
	volume = {109},
	number = {47},
	year = {2012},
	month = {nov},
	pages = {E3241{\textendash}E3250},
	abstract = {Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are populated by dense communities of animals that form symbiotic associations with chemolithoautotrophic bacteria. To date, our understanding of which factors govern the distribution of host/symbiont associations (or holobionts) in nature is limited, although host physiology often is invoked. In general, the role that symbionts play in habitat utilization by vent holobionts has not been thoroughly addressed. Here we present evidence for symbiont-influenced, regional-scale niche partitioning among symbiotic gastropods (genus Alviniconcha) in the Lau Basin. We extensively surveyed Alviniconcha holobionts from four vent fields using quantitative molecular approaches, coupled to characterization of high-temperature and diffuse vent-fluid composition using gastight samplers and in situ electrochemical analyses, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses exposed cryptic host and symbiont diversity, revealing three distinct host types and three different symbiont phylotypes (one $ε$-proteobacteria and two $\gamma$-proteobacteria) that formed specific associations with one another. Strikingly, we observed that holobionts with $ε$-proteobacterial symbionts were dominant at the northern fields, whereas holobionts with $\gamma$-proteobacterial symbionts were dominant in the southern fields. This pattern of distribution corresponds to differences in the vent geochemistry that result from deep subsurface geological and geothermal processes. We posit that the symbionts, likely through differences in chemolithoautotrophic metabolism, influence niche utilization among these holobionts. The data presented here represent evidence linking symbiont type to habitat partitioning among the chemosynthetic symbioses at hydrothermal vents and illustrate the coupling between subsurface geothermal processes and niche availability.},
	keywords = {ROV Jason (Remotely Operated Vehicle)},
	issn = {0027-8424},
	doi = {10.1073/pnas.1202690109},
	author = {Beinart, R A and Sanders, J G and Faure, B and Sylva, S P and Lee, R W and Becker, E L and Gartman, A and Luther, G W and Seewald, J S and Fisher, C R and Girguis, P R}
}
@article {Becker2010,
	title = {{Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of hydrocarbon-seep bivalves on the Gulf of Mexico lower continental slope}},
	journal = {Deep-Sea Research. Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography},
	volume = {57},
	number = {21-23},
	year = {2010},
	pages = {1957{\textendash}1964},
	abstract = {Stable isotope compositions of cold-seep bivalves can illuminate processes that affect the chemical and isotopic compositions of seeping fluids along the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico as well as provide insight into the physiological ecology of these species. Carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions were analyzed in mussels and clams from 14 seep sites spanning a depth range of 1000 to 2800 m along the lower Louisiana slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Mussels of three species found on the lower slope, Bathymodiolus childressi, B. brooksi, and B. heckerae, showed site-specific differences in tissue $δ$13C, reflecting differences in the local methane pool. Mussels from sites on the lower slope sitting atop the contiguous salt sheet generally had tissue $δ$13C values that reflected a stronger biogenic methane signal (-70.8 to -58.8{\textperthousand}) than mussels on the upper slope or seaward of the Sigsbee Escarpment (-67.3 to -40.4{\textperthousand}). Clams (Calyptogena ponderosa and Calyptogena sp. nov.) had a narrow range of $δ$13C values between -37.0 and -34.4{\textperthousand}, indicating that their thiotrophic symbionts are fixing primarily seawater-dissolved organic carbon. The most depleted tissue $δ$15N values yet published for both mussels and clams are reported in this study at -23.7 and -9.2{\textperthousand}, respectively. These depleted values have implications for the assimilation of inorganic nitrogen by these symbioses and the concentrations of particular inorganic nitrogen sources in the local environment.},
	keywords = {HOV Alvin (Human Occupied Vehicle), ROV Jason (Remotely Operated Vehicle)},
	issn = {0967-0645},
	doi = {10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.05.002},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.05.002},
	author = {Becker, E L and Lee, R W and Macko, S A and Faure, B M and Fisher, C R}
}
