Transcript Census of Marine Life

The Census of Marine Life
Discovering the marine communities of the past.
Exploring the multitude of ocean life today.
Predicting the pattern of ocean ecosystems in the
future.
The Census of Marine Life
is:



a research program that will examine changes in
the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine
organisms in time and space
an international program that will involve experts
in a variety of biological fields from around the
globe
an emerging program that will identify key
questions and support observations and research
over the next 5-10 years
The Census of Marine Life
Why Now?
 Urgent
need for biological information
around the world to enable the
conservation of living resources
 Availability of new techniques and
technologies that enable us to better
understand the ocean
The Census of Marine Life
Why Now - Environmental Changes
UN Framework Convention on Biodiversity
- requires signatories to collect information
on living resources
 Marine Protected Areas
 Sustainable Fisheries
 Global Climate Change

The Census of Marine Life
Why Now - New Techniques/Technologies
Data Management - high-speed computing,
distributed networks
 Technologies - access to the environment

– AUVs, ROVs
– Novel acoustic and optical sensors
– Satellite communications for real-time
observations from fixed and floating platforms

Data Analysis - numerical modeling of
biological data with physical/chemical data
The Census of Marine Life
Selected Elements of the Program
Ocean Biogeographical Information System
 History of Marine Animal Populations
 New Technologies
 Pilot Research Projects
 New Elements

– Large-scale research projects
– Modeling
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
A Vision to Address the Data Management Need



A distributed electronic information system through which
marine biological databases on species diversity,
distribution and abundance can be accessed via the
Internet
Data accessed by the system will be able to be processed
into interactive visualizations, in the same way as a typical
geographical information system (GIS) - will require
georeferenced data
Visualizations will be three-dimensional (including depth)
and four-dimensional (with time)
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
Background

The Need: A data assimilation framework for
new and historical data amassed by the Census of
Marine Life (CoML)

First Steps:
– OBIS Workshop (November 1999) developed
an initial vision and strategy
– Call for proposals under US program (NOPP)
– Second OBIS Workshop (September 2000)
developed system priorities
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
NOPP FY 2000 OBIS Grants



Call for Proposals issued in Fall 1999. Seeking
proposals in two areas:
– System design and development
– Data compilation
Funded eight new research projects for $3.7
million over two years
Funded projects involve 63 partner institutions in
15 countries
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
NOPP FY 2000 OBIS Grants

Funded projects cover a broad range of taxa - fish,
cephalopods, molluscs, zooplankton (gelatinous forms and
crustaceans), corals and anemones

Funded projects can also be characterized in other
ways
– System design - one is single taxon, museum-based and globally
distributed, one is multiple taxa plus environmental data in a single
region
– Data compilation - two working with existing, web-based
resources; two with global taxonomic experts; one in the context of
a major oceanographic time series; one with genetic data
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
FY00 Projects Funded - System Design
 System
development and design
– The FISHNET Distributed Biodiversity
Information System, Edward O. Wiley, Natural
History Museum, University of Kansas
– Development of a Dynamic Biogeographic
Information System: A Pilot Application for the
Gulf of Maine, Dale A. Kiefer, Wrigley Institute for
Environmental Studies, University of Southern
California
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
FY00 Projects Funded - Data Compilation

Projects with Major, Existing Web-based
Resources
– Census of Marine Fishes: Definitive List of
Species and Online Biodiversity Database,
William N. Eschmeyer, California Academy of
Sciences (with FishBase)
– Expansion of CephBase as a Biological
Prototype for OBIS, Phillip G. Lee, University
of Texas Medical Branch
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
FY00 Projects Funded - Data Compilation

Projects With Global Taxonomic Experts
– A Biotic Database of Indo-Pacific Marine
Mollusks, Gary Rosenberg, Academy of
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
– Biogeoinformatics of Hexacorallia (Corals, Sea
Anemones, and their Allies): Interfacing
Geospatial,Taxonomic, and Environmental
Data for a Group of Marine Invertebrates,
Daphne G. Fautin, University of Kansas
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
FY00 Projects Funded - Data Compilation

A Project Within the Context of A Major
Oceanographic Time-Series
– Diel, Seasonal, and Interannual Patterns in
Zooplankton and Micronekton Species
Composition in the Subtropical Atlantic,
Deborah Steinberg, Bermuda Biological Station
for Research, Inc
The Ocean Biogeographical Information System
FY00 Projects Funded - Data Compilation

A Project Using Genetic Data
– ZooGene, a DNA Sequence Database for
Calanoid Copepods and Euphausiids: An OBIS
Tool for Uniform Standards of Species
Identification, Ann Bucklin, University of New
Hampshire
The Census of Marine Life
History of Marine Animal Populations
An interdisciplinary research program that
uses historical and environmental archives
to examine the recent history of marine
communities
 Goals are to examine:

– The ecological impacts of large-scale harvesting
– Long-term changes in stock abundance
– The role of marine resources in historical development
The Census of Marine Life
HMAP Progress and Funding


PHASE I - A workshop to of environmental
historians, fisheries biologists, paleoecologists,
and anthropologists to define the scope of HMAP
and discuss specific research projects. 27
participants from 9 countries, Feb. 2000
PHASE II - A collaboration of three institutions to
fund 8 case studies to identify and analyze
historical data on natural populations. US$1.2
million over two years to 31 institutions in 18
countries, Dec. 2000
The Census of Marine Life
HMAP Case Studies








Northwest Atlantic (Gulf of Maine, Newfoundland-Grand Banks,
Greenland cod fisheries)
Southwest Pacific (Southeast Australian Shelf and Slope fisheries,
New Zealand Shelf fisheries)
White and Barents Seas (Russian and Norwegian herring, salmon and
cod fisheries)
Norwegian, North and Baltic Seas (Multinational cod, herring and
plaice fisheries)
Southwest African Shelf (Clupeid fisheries in a continental boundary
current system)
Worldwide Whaling (Historical & 20th Century whaling in all oceans)
California Current (Clupeid fisheries in a boundary current system)
New - Caribbean communities, impact of the removal of large preds.
The Census of Marine Life
HMAP Steering Committee
Poul Holm, Southern Denmark University
 Tim Smith, US National Marine Fisheries
Service, NE Fisheries Science Center
 David Starkey, University of Hull
 Robert Francis, University of Washington
 Andy Rosenberg, University of New
Hampshire

The Census of Marine Life
New Technologies WG

New Technologies for Observing Marine
Life
– Working Group through the Scientific
Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)
– First meeting - 9-11 Nov. 2000, Sidney, BC

Pilot Research Projects to demonstrate new
technologies or techniques for the CoML
The Census of Marine Life
Pilot Projects
 Experimental
studies aimed at
determining the feasibility of and
technical requirements for future
Census of Marine Life Projects.
 Short term - 2-3 years
 Regional or basin-scale
The Census of Marine Life
Pilot Research Projects






Census of Marine Life in the Gulf of Maine, Ken Foote, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, USA
Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the Northern MidAtlantic, Odd Aksel Bergstad, Institute of Marine Research, Norway
Pacific Ocean Salmon Tracking, David Welch, Pacific Biological
Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics, Barbara A. Block, Stanford University,
USA
Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss) in the Arctic and Northern
Atlantic Oceans, Cindy Lee Van Dover, College of William and Mary,
USA
Coastal Survey of the Western Pacific, Yoshihisa Shirayama, Seto
Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyoto University, Japan
Pilot Project
Census of Marine Life in the Gulf of Maine

Ken Foote, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, USA

Objectives
– Develop and use new technologies to study the
diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine
life in the Gulf of Maine
Pilot Project
Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the
Northern Mid-Atlantic

Odd Aksel Bergstad, Institute of Marine Research,
Norway

Objectives
– Describe and understand the patterns of
distribution, abundance and trophic relationships
of the organisms inhabiting the mid-oceanic
North Atlantic
– Identify and model the ecological processes that
cause variability in such patterns
Pilot Project
Pacific Ocean Salmon Tracking

David Welch, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo,
British Columbia, Canada

Objectives
– Develop and implement new technology for
data-storage tags
– Use tags to track immature and maturing
salmon offshore
– Develop a monitoring program to track juvenile
salmon on the continental shelf
Pilot Project
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics

Barbara A. Block, Stanford University, USA

Objectives
– Develop offshore tagging program, using
advanced data-storage tags, to track large
vertebrates (whales, turtles, pelagic fish)
Pilot Project
Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss) in the Arctic and
Northern Atlantic Oceans

Cindy Lee Van Dover, College of William and
Mary, USA

Objectives
– Analyze the diversity, distribution and
abundance of marine life in deep-sea
chemosynthetic ecosystems in the North
Atlantic and Arctic oceans
– Develop and use innovative methods and tools
to find and survey these systems
Pilot Project
Coastal Survey of the Western Pacific

Yoshihisa Shirayama, Seto Marine Biological
Laboratory, Kyoto University, Japan

Objectives
– Quantitatively survey marine life and examine
biodiversity in near-shore areas in the Western Pacific
in a continuum from the northern to southern boreal
regions using traditional sampling methods
– Sponsored through the Diversitas International in the
Western Pacific Area (DIWPA) program
The Census of Marine Life
Additional Interests/Activities





Develop research projects in conjunction with
natural history museums and marine laboratories
Develop activities in conjunction with ICES
Collaborate with PICES in the development of a
Status of the North Pacific effort
Work with the US DoS and other countries to
represent the CoML at the summit on sustainable
development (Rio+10), Johannesburg, Sept. 2002
Establish national/ regional committees, incl. US
The Census of Marine Life
Secretariat


Located at CORE in Washington, DC
Coordinates and facilitates Census of Marine Life
activities, including
– meetings of the Steering Committee and advisory
groups,
– workshops and reports on topics of interest,
– contacts with international and intergovernmental
agencies and organizations,
– outreach to a variety of sectors such as research,
industry, non-profit organizations, and the media
The Census of Marine Life
Scientific Steering Committee










J. Frederick Grassle, Rutgers University, USA (Chair)
Vera Alexander, University of Alaska, USA
Patricio Bernal, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission,
France
Donald Boesch, University of Maryland, USA
David Farmer, Institute for Ocean Science, Canada
Carlo Heip, Netherlands Institute for Ecology, The Netherlands
Poul Holm, Southern Denmark University, Denmark
Olav Rune Godoe, Inst. of Marine Research, Norway
Yoshihisa Shirayama, Kyoto University, Japan
Andrew Solow, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
The Census of Marine Life
Scientific Strategy





Provides the vision and overall goals for the
program
Defines the questions that the CoML will try to
answer over the lifetime of the program
Focuses the CoML into a series of studies that can
be accomplished in a 10 year timeframe
Identifies appropriate funding sources
To be released in late 2001 for review by the
scientific community
The Census of Marine Life
Expected Accomplishments - 2001





Completion of draft Scientific Strategy
Pilot research projects - start of the planning phase
Outreach into SW Pacific via IOC/WESTPAC
workshop (Oct. 2001, Phuket, Thailand)
Development of the initial elements of the Ocean
Biogeographical Information System
Establishment of OBIS International Committee
and formal relationship with GBIF (summer
2001)
The Census of Marine Life
Contact Information
 Website
address: www.coml.org
 Secretariat contacts:
– Cynthia Decker,
[email protected]
– Ron O’Dor, [email protected]