The Census of Marine Life

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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.

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The Census of Marine Lifeis

• 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

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The Census of Marine LifeWhy 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

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The Census of Marine LifeWhy Now - Environmental
Changes

• UN Framework Convention on Biodiversity -
  requires signatories to collect information on
  living resources
• Marine Protected Areas
• Sustainable Fisheries
• Global Climate Change

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The Census of Marine LifeWhy 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

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The Census of Marine LifeSelected 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

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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)

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information
SystemBackground

• 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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemNOPP
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemNOPP
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemFY00
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemFY00
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemFY00
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemFY00
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

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The Ocean Biogeographical Information SystemFY00
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

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The Census of Marine LifeHistory 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

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The Census of Marine LifeHMAP 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. US1.2
  million over two years to 31 institutions in 18
  countries, Dec. 2000

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The Census of Marine LifeHMAP 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.

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The Census of Marine LifeHMAP 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

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The Census of Marine LifeNew 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

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The Census of Marine LifePilot 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

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The Census of Marine LifePilot 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 Mid-Atlantic, 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

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Pilot ProjectCensus 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

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Pilot ProjectPatterns 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

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Pilot ProjectPacific 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

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Pilot ProjectTagging 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)

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Pilot ProjectChemosynthetic 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

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Pilot ProjectCoastal 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

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The Census of Marine LifeAdditional
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 (Rio10), Johannesburg, Sept. 2002
• Establish national/ regional committees, incl. US

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The Census of Marine LifeSecretariat

• 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

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The Census of Marine LifeScientific 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

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The Census of Marine LifeScientific 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

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The Census of Marine LifeExpected
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)

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The Census of Marine LifeContact Information

• Website address www.coml.org
• Secretariat contacts
• Cynthia Decker, cdecker_at_COREocean.org
• Ron ODor, rodor_at_COREocean.org