[All-postdocs] Bioseminar Henk-Jan Hoving

[Ana M Velez]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biology Department Seminar
Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 12:00 Noon

Henk-Jan Hoving
Group Leader of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group, GEOMAR
Unravelling the Diversity and Ecology of Pelagic Invertebrates in the Deep Sea
The deep pelagic ocean is the largest yet least explored habitat on the planet. It is a biodiversity reservoir and a carbon sink but it is also subject to a range of stressors including warming, overfishing, and loss of oxygen. The midwater food web supports oceanic predators and consist of a diverse community, of which many species remain to be discovered and quantified, including their functions and associations. The use of in situ observations in the deep sea via submersibles and camera systems has provided an unprecedented view on deep water ecosystems. I will present past and present work that illustrate how in situ observations have advanced our knowledge on life histories and behavior in cephalopods, marine mollusks that are highly abundant in the deep sea as consumers and prey, and which die after their single reproductive event. Additionally, I demonstrate how we apply in situ observations and eDNA metabarcoding to provide baseline data on pelagic biodiversity and distribution also in relation to predator ecology in the North Atlantic. These efforts revealed novel species, records and ecological functions of gelatinous fauna, a taxonomic diverse group that has historically been under sampled due to their fragility. Finally, I present research on some of the pathways via which living and dying pelagic invertebrates contribute to the transport of organic matter from the pelagic zone into the deep sea interior and ultimately to the deep seafloor.

VIRTUAL!  Zoom: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/97905683657 Meeting ID: 979 0568 3657   By phone: Find your local number: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/u/aoKxWZp8E

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