GELIFES Seminars - Sabine Gollner

Sabine Gollner (NIOZ)

Resilience of deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are island-like ecosystems hosting highly specialized communities adapted to extreme conditions, including high temperatures and volcanic disturbances. As these vents are rich in valuable metals, they may also face pressures from future deep-sea mining. In this talk, I will examine the resilience of vent fauna and share our recent discovery of animals inhabiting subseafloor cavities, which expands our understanding of the spatial extent of vent ecosystems. These findings have important implications for connectivity, recovery potential and for conservation strategies.

Biosketch:
Sabine Gollner is a deep-sea benthic ecologist at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). Her current studies include biodiversity, connectivity, and resilience of deep-sea hydrothermal vent fauna, as well as diversity and restoration of fauna after test-mining impact at polymetallic nodule fields. Sabine has participated and led several research expeditions on the high seas, including dives in submersibles and work with Remotely Operated Vehicles. In her transdisciplinary research projects, she works together with lawyers on the topics of ocean health and management. Sabine acts as scientific advisor for the Dutch delegation at the International Seabed Authority and is co-lead of the Minerals Working Group of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI).