PhD DISSERTATION DEFENSE: GABRIELLE ELLIS – “COMMUNITY ECOLOGY AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL PATTERNING OF ABYSSAL INVERTEBRATES IN THE CLARION CLIPPERTON ZONE”
Abstract: The abyssal ecosystem (> 3500 m) represents a vital biodiversity reservoir due to its vast size, species richness, and high rate of rarity (possible endemism). These communities are susceptible to species extinction and reduced ecosystem services with forthcoming anthropogenic impacts, including climate change and deep-sea mining. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a 6 million km2 region of the Eastern Pacific, is characterized by abundant and mineral-rich polymetallic nodules that are of increasing economic and technological interest to support renewable energy development. My dissertation examines patterns of ecology across habitat, time, and space among abyssal invertebrates in the CCZ. An approach using molecular and morphotaxonomic methods combined biological data across size classes, substrate, and age states to provide an integrative representation of the community. Our findings underscore that abyssal invertebrate communities are highly diverse and dynamic, with variation between habitat assemblages with different dependencies on the seafloor. Baseline descriptions of ecology and biogeography in the CCZ were used to test hypotheses about the maintenance of diversity in the deep sea, in addition to meaningful applications toward management objectives on local and regional scales.
About Presenter: Gabrielle “Gabby” N. Ellis is a PhD student in the Biological Oceanography division of the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, working with Drs. Erica Goetze and Craig Smith. She is a deep-sea ecologist who asks questions about community ecology dynamics over space, time, and habitat. Her specialization is in invertebrates from the abyssal Pacific (Clarion Clipperton Zone, ~4000 m) that live in/on sediments, polymetallic nodules, or water just above the seafloor. Her research has direct application for deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining, including baseline descriptions of communities expected to be impacted by mining and toward protected area management design. Gabby has received numerous awards, including the Mirikitani Outstanding Dissertation from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Beyond research, Gabby is passionate about work culture dynamics and has been heavily involved in establishing fair practices for her community at UH through Nā Kama Kai and Academic Labor United.
Location: CMORE Moore Conference Center
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 02, 2025 at 9:00am
You can also connect via Zoom:
https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/82279256493
Meeting ID: 822 7925 6493
Passcode: larvae
