Counts of faunal colonists found on experimental settlement surfaces deployed at Tica Vent in East Pacific Rise on R/V Atlantis cruise AT42-21 and R/V Roger Revelle cruise RR2102 from Dec 2019 to Apr 2021

These data include counts of faunal colonists found on experimental settlement surfaces (termed “sandwiches” – comprised of 6 stacked polycarbonate plates separated by spacers) deployed at Tica Vent in the 9°50’ N region of the East Pacific Rise and details of the colonization experiment deployments and recoveries (e.g., dive numbers, deployment and recovery times, temperature measurements, etc.). Some sandwiches were originally deployed on cruise AT42-21 (R/V Atlantis, December 2019) and additional sandwiches were deployed and all were recovered on cruise RR2102 (R/V Roger Revelle, March-April 2021). Deployment and recovery of sandwiches utilized deep submergence vehicles HOV Alvin and ROV Jason. Sandwiches were deployed in three biogenic zones (Alvinella-dominated, Riftia-dominated, and mussel-dominated) and had either an established microbial biofilm or no biofilm upon the start of the colonization experiment. It was hypothesized that established microbial biofilms may be indicators of suitable habitat for faunal colonists, specifically larvae, in hydrothermal vent environments characterized by high spatial and temporal variability in abiotic conditions. These short-term (~2 week) colonization experiments thus tested whether the age of the microbial biofilm influenced faunal communities that colonized surfaces across a gradient of habitat conditions. These data were collected as part of a collaborative project involving the personnel associated with the labs of Dr. Shawn Arellano (Western Washington University), Dr. Lauren Mullineaux (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), and Dr. Costantino Vetriani (Rutgers University). This dataset is published in Ladd et al., 2024 (DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104314).本数据集包含部署于东太平洋海隆9°50′N区域蒂卡喷口（Tica Vent）的实验定居基质上采集的动物拓殖个体（faunal colonists）计数数据，以及拓殖实验的部署与回收详情（如下潜次数、部署与回收时间、温度测量数据等）；其中该实验定居基质被称为“三明治装置”，由6片堆叠的聚碳酸酯板（polycarbonate plate）经间隔件（spacer）分隔组成。部分“三明治装置”最初随AT42-21航次（亚特兰蒂斯号科考船（R/V Atlantis），2019年12月）完成部署，另有部分新增装置随后续航次完成部署，所有装置均于RR2102航次（罗杰·雷维尔号科考船（R/V Roger Revelle），2021年3-4月）完成回收。本装置的部署与回收作业借助阿尔文号载人深潜器（HOV Alvin）与杰森号遥控水下机器人（ROV Jason）两台深潜装备完成。“三明治装置”被部署于三类生物成因带：以阿尔文虫（Alvinella）为优势类群、以巨型管虫（Riftia）为优势类群以及以贻贝为优势类群；实验启动时，部分装置表面已形成预定植的微生物生物膜（microbial biofilm），其余则未形成生物膜。本研究提出假说：在非生物条件具有高度时空异质性的热液喷口（hydrothermal vent）环境中，预定植的微生物生物膜可作为动物拓殖者（尤其是幼虫阶段个体）适宜栖息生境的指示标志。因此，这项为期约2周的短期拓殖实验旨在验证：微生物生物膜的形成时长是否会影响不同生境梯度下定居于装置表面的动物群落组成。本数据集采集自一项国际合作研究项目，该项目由西华盛顿大学肖恩·阿雷利亚诺（Shawn Arellano）博士实验室、伍兹霍尔海洋研究所劳伦·穆利诺（Lauren Mullineaux）博士实验室以及罗格斯大学康斯坦蒂诺·维特里亚尼（Costantino Vetriani）博士实验室的科研人员共同参与。本数据集已发表于Ladd等学者2024年的研究成果（DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104314）。