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Daniela Zeppilli

Colonization and ecoloGical connECtivity of meiOfauna in deep-sea extreme ecosystems (GECO)


PostDoctoral Fellow: Dr Daniela Zeppilli
Scientific Sponsors: Dr Jozée Sarrazin and Dr Florence Pradillon; Laboratoire Environnement Profond (LEP), Unité Etude des écosystèmes Profonds, Ifremer.
LabexMER Research Axis 3: Geobiological interactions in extreme environments.

Meiofauna (size class animals between 20 μm and 1 mm), play a significant role in ecological processes, hold a key position in the food web and represent an important contribution to the biodiversity of marine benthic communities. The colonisation and dispersion processes of the meiofauna, their interactions with other faunal compartments (from micro-organisms to megafauna) as well as the intra- and inter-specific interactions are mostly unknown in deep sea ecosystems.

The GECO project aims to understand meiofaunal colonization processes in distinct deep-sea ecosystems (hydrothermal vents, cold seeps and abyssal plain) in order to characterize the ecological connectivity of this faunal compartment at different spatial scales and within different types of habitats.

 

Zeppilli 1Figure 1 : A tardigrade (Neostygarctus spp.) from deep-sea Atlantic Ocean (© Daniela Zeppilli / IMAR)

 

 

 

 

Figure 2 : Loricifer from deep-sea Atlantic Ocean (© Daniela Zeppilli / IMAR)

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3 : A nematode (Cephalochaetosoma spp.) from deep-sea Atlantic Ocean (© Daniela Zeppilli / IMAR)

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