High functional vulnerability across the world's deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities.

ABSTRACT: At the nearly pristine hydrothermal vents of the deep sea, highly endemic animals depend upon bacteria nourished by hydrothermal fluids that emerge as outflows from the seafloor. These animals are remarkable in tolerating extreme conditions, including high heat, toxic reduced sulfide, and low oxygen. Here, we test whether the extreme vent environment has selected for functionally similar species across the world's deep ocean, despite well-established global geographic patterns of high phylogenetic distinctness. High functional redundancy in species pools within regions suggests that the extreme environments select for species with specific traits. Yet, some regions emerge as functional hotspots where species pools with distinct functional trait compositions may represent geological idiosyn

SUBMITTER: Alfaro-Lucas JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11551373 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature