Census of Marine Life
Encyclopedia
The Census of Marine Life was a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity
, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life — past, present, and future — was released in 2010 in London
.
Census researchers undertook the task of constructing the history of marine animal populations since human predation became important, roughly the last 500 years. This program component is the History of Marine Animal Populations
(HMAP).
The largest component of the Census involved investigating what now lives in the world's oceans through 14 field projects. Each sampled important kinds of biota in one of six realms of the global oceans using a range of technologies. Details of these interesting and varied field projects are provided below.
Forecasting what will live in the oceans involves modeling
and simulation
. This component program was the Future of Marine Animal Populations
(FMAP). This group focused on integrating data from many different sources and creating new statistical and analytical tools to make predictions for marine populations and ecosystems in the future.
The global initiative required a state-of-the-art data assimilation framework, and this effort, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System
(OBIS), forms the fourth component program of the Census. The vision is that users will be able to click on maps of the oceans on their laptop or desktop anywhere in the world and bring up Census data on what is reported to live in the ocean zone of interest. At the end of 2010, OBIS contained more than 30 million records. OBIS is designed to make sharing data easy, opening the door to improved understanding of the patterns and processes that govern marine life.
• The Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life documented actual species diversity of abyssal plain
s as a basis for global change research and for a better understanding of historical causes and actual ecological factors regulating biodiversity. CeDAMar collected reliable data on the large-scale distribution of one of the largest and most inaccessible environments on the planet.
The Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) investigated the distribution and abundance of Antarctica’s marine biodiversity, how it is affected by climate change, and how change will alter the nature of the ecosystem services currently provided by the Southern Ocean
for the benefit of mankind.
The Arctic Ocean Diversity (ArcOD) Census of Marine Life project documented the present Arctic Ocean
biodiversity on a Pan-Arctic scale. The emphasis of this program was on biodiversity because processes are critically impacted by the composition of biota involved in them. The operational approach was to help coordinate, encourage and support research efforts designed to examine the biodiversity in the three major realms: sea ice, water column and seafloor.
COMARGE was a field project of the Census of Marine Life launched in 2005. The project described biodiversity patterns of benthic and bentho-demersal communities on continental margins, with a focus on multiple habitats and spatial scales, and identifying the contribution of environmental heterogeneities to these patterns. The project is led by Myriam Sibuet and managed by Lenaick Menot, both of France
.
The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) program developed and promoted the application of new electronic tagging technology to study the marine life history of Pacific salmon. A major area of focus of the POST project involved the development of a permanent continental-scale marine telemetry system. POST's array sits on the seabed of the continental shelf
and upstream in several major rivers and is used to monitor the movements of not only salmon but many other types of marine animals along the shelf. Tracking data generated from the array can be applied toward the development of fishery management policies aimed at the sustainable harvest of resources, and to the understanding and conservation of other marine and diadromous species.
By enhancing global understanding of reef biodiversity, the CoML Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) conducted a taxonomically diversified global census of coral reef
ecosystems, increased tropical taxonomic knowledge, developed new, universal protocols (e.g. DNA-based technologies and long term sampling devices) and increased access to and exchange of coral reef data dispersed throughout the world.
The International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM) facilitated the inventory of microbial diversity and developed a strategy to catalogue all known diversity of single-cell organisms inclusive of the Bacteria
, Archaea
, Protist
a and associated viruses, and explored and discovered unknown microbial diversity, and placed that knowledge into appropriate ecological and evolutionary contexts.
MAR-ECO described the patterns of distribution, abundance, and the trophic relationships among the organisms inhabiting the waters over and around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
. It identified and modeled the ecological processes that cause variability in these patterns. The project focused on fish, crustacean
s, cephalopod
s, and gelatinous plankton
and other actively swimming organisms, but there was focus on top predators such as seabird
s and cetacea
ns, which interact with the more surface environment.
The Natural Geography In Shore Areas (NaGISA) project was a collaborative effort aimed at inventorying and monitoring habitat specific biodiversity in the global nearshore. The international character of the project and its target zone were reflected in the word nagisa, which is Japanese for the narrow coastal zone where the land meets the sea. NaGISA held a unique position in the Census of Marine Life as an ambassador project, linking CoML to local interests around the world. NaGISA's first aim was to drawi up a global baseline of nearshore biodiversity and then use its network to continue monitoring those same shores for the next 50 years.
The Gulf of Maine
was selected as the ecosystem pilot study for CoML. This program gained knowledge to enable ecosystem-based management
in a large marine environment
. The program advanced knowledge of both biodiversity and ecological processes over a range of habitats and food-chain levels, from plankton to whales.
CenSeam was a global study of seamount
ecosystems, to determine their role in the biogeography
, biodiversity
, productivity
, and evolution
of marine organisms, and to evaluate the effects of human exploitation. CenSeam commenced in 2005 and the CenSeam science community, with particular input from CenSeam's Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG), defined two overarching priority themes (1) What factors drive community composition and diversity on seamounts, including any differences between seamounts and other habitat types? (2) What are the impacts of human activities on seamount community structure and function?
The Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) research program was a collaboration among scientists from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, France and the UK, that applied new technologies to understanding the environmental basis for movements and behaviors of large pelagic animals in the North Pacific
. With new electronic tags, TOPP scientists followed the migrations of marine fishes, turtles, birds, pinniped
s, whales and Humboldt squid
as they crisscrossed the Pacific basin. The results answer basic questions about the animals' biology including where they feed and breed, and what migration corridors they use.
ChEss improved the knowledge of the biodiversity and biogeography of species from deep-water chemosynthetically-driven
ecosystems at a global scale and increased the understanding of the processes that shape these communities. Scientist located under the ChEss umbrella were global in nature. ChEss addressed the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, within the realm of deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vent
s, cold seep
s, whale fall
s, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts. ChEss scientists combined results from research on all these systems in order to understand the phylogeographic relationships amongst all deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems.
ChEss scientist, Michel Segonzac, was co-finder of the popular media sensation Kiwa hirsuta
(Yeti Crab).
The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) worked toward a taxonomically comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world oceans. The project produced information on zooplankton
species diversity, biomass, biogeographical distribution, genetic diversity, and community structure. The taxonomic focus was the animals that drift with ocean currents throughout their lives (i.e., the holozooplankton). This assemblage currently includes ~7,000 described species in fifteen phyla. The Census encompassed unique marine environments and those likely to be inhabited by endemic and undescribed zooplankton species.
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System, or OBIS, is an international information system focused on marine biodiversity. It provides expert geo-referenced data on marine species and currently contains more than 30 million georeferenced, accurately identified species records from more than 800 databases. OBIS provides spatial query tools for visualizing relationships among species and their environment. This information is readily and freely accessible by the Internet and requires no special software to use.
FMAP attempted to describe and synthesize globally changing patterns of species abundance, distribution, and diversity, and to model the effects of fishing, climate change and other key variables on those patterns. This work was done across ocean realms and with an emphasis on understanding past changes and predicting future scenarios.
The History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) improved the understanding of ecosystem dynamics, specifically with regard to long-term changes in stock abundance, the ecological impact of large-scale harvesting by man, and the role of marine resources in the historical development of human society. Since the earliest historical records, man has harvested a variety of different animals from the oceans. While ecologists have traditionally aimed to identify the current conditions of many of the animal populations affected both directly and indirectly by harvesting, much less focus has been given to the status of affected populations in earlier times. HMAP created a historical reference point of marine populations against which modern populations can be compared to determine how ocean ecosystems are changing with respect to human impact and even climate change.
A Mapping and Visualization Team based at Duke University
's Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab developed and shared methods to display the results of the ten-year Census of Marine Life.
Areas of the globe represented by an NRIC include:
CoML was a partner with the Encyclopedia of Life
in their effort to create descriptive web-page records for all the known species on Earth. CoML was an integral part on creating pages for marine species.
CoML was a partner with Barcode of Life to help create DNA barcoding for the anticipated 230,000 marine species known thus far. CoML provided scientific data to Barcode of Life to greatly accelerate the process of creating DNA barcodes.
Google and Census of Marine Life partnered on Google Earth 5.0. Ocean in Google Earth contains a layer devoted to the Census of Marine Life that allows users to follow scientists from the Census on expeditions and see marine life and features found during the Census.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life — past, present, and future — was released in 2010 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Census program
The Census consists of three major component themes organized around the questions:- What has lived in the oceans?
- What does live in the oceans?
- What will live in the oceans?
Census researchers undertook the task of constructing the history of marine animal populations since human predation became important, roughly the last 500 years. This program component is the History of Marine Animal Populations
History of Marine Animal Populations
The History of Marine Animal Populations is an international, interdisciplinary research initiative . It comprises the historical component of the Census of Marine Life and is designed to measure and explain patterns of long-term change in the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the...
(HMAP).
The largest component of the Census involved investigating what now lives in the world's oceans through 14 field projects. Each sampled important kinds of biota in one of six realms of the global oceans using a range of technologies. Details of these interesting and varied field projects are provided below.
Forecasting what will live in the oceans involves modeling
Scientific modelling
Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, graphical and/or mathematical models. Science offers a growing collection of methods, techniques and theory about all kinds of specialized scientific modelling...
and simulation
Simulation
Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....
. This component program was the Future of Marine Animal Populations
Future of Marine Animal Populations
The Future of Marine Animal Populations project was one of the core projects of the international Census of Marine Life . FMAP's mission was to describe and synthesize globally changing patterns of species abundance, distribution, and diversity, and to model the effects of fishing, climate change...
(FMAP). This group focused on integrating data from many different sources and creating new statistical and analytical tools to make predictions for marine populations and ecosystems in the future.
The global initiative required a state-of-the-art data assimilation framework, and this effort, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System
Ocean Biogeographic Information System
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System is a web-based access point to information about the distribution and abundance of living species in the ocean.-History:...
(OBIS), forms the fourth component program of the Census. The vision is that users will be able to click on maps of the oceans on their laptop or desktop anywhere in the world and bring up Census data on what is reported to live in the ocean zone of interest. At the end of 2010, OBIS contained more than 30 million records. OBIS is designed to make sharing data easy, opening the door to improved understanding of the patterns and processes that govern marine life.
Field projects
CoML was engaged in 14 field projects:- CeDAMar (Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine LifeCensus of Diversity of Abyssal Marine LifeThe Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that studies the species diversity of one of the largest and most inaccessible environments on the planet, the abyssal plain...
): Abyssal PlainsAbyssal plainAn abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest...
• The Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life documented actual species diversity of abyssal plain
Abyssal plain
An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between 3000 and 6000 metres. Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are among the flattest, smoothest...
s as a basis for global change research and for a better understanding of historical causes and actual ecological factors regulating biodiversity. CeDAMar collected reliable data on the large-scale distribution of one of the largest and most inaccessible environments on the planet.
- CAML (Census of Antarctic Marine LifeCensus of Antarctic Marine LifeThe Census of Antarctic Marine Life is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that researches the marine biodiversity of Antarctica, how it is affected by climate change, and how this change is altering the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean....
): Antarctic Ocean
The Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) investigated the distribution and abundance of Antarctica’s marine biodiversity, how it is affected by climate change, and how change will alter the nature of the ecosystem services currently provided by the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
for the benefit of mankind.
- ArcOD (Arctic Ocean Diversity): Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean Diversity (ArcOD) Census of Marine Life project documented the present Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
biodiversity on a Pan-Arctic scale. The emphasis of this program was on biodiversity because processes are critically impacted by the composition of biota involved in them. The operational approach was to help coordinate, encourage and support research efforts designed to examine the biodiversity in the three major realms: sea ice, water column and seafloor.
- CoMargE (Continental Margin Ecosystems): Continental Margins
COMARGE was a field project of the Census of Marine Life launched in 2005. The project described biodiversity patterns of benthic and bentho-demersal communities on continental margins, with a focus on multiple habitats and spatial scales, and identifying the contribution of environmental heterogeneities to these patterns. The project is led by Myriam Sibuet and managed by Lenaick Menot, both of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
- POST (Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking ProjectPacific Ocean Shelf Tracking ProjectThe Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that researches the behavior of marine animals through the use of ocean telemetry and data management systems. This system of telemetry consists of highly efficient lines of acoustic receivers that create...
): Continental Shelves
The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) program developed and promoted the application of new electronic tagging technology to study the marine life history of Pacific salmon. A major area of focus of the POST project involved the development of a permanent continental-scale marine telemetry system. POST's array sits on the seabed of the continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
and upstream in several major rivers and is used to monitor the movements of not only salmon but many other types of marine animals along the shelf. Tracking data generated from the array can be applied toward the development of fishery management policies aimed at the sustainable harvest of resources, and to the understanding and conservation of other marine and diadromous species.
- CReefs (Census of Coral ReefsCensus of Coral ReefsThe Census of Coral Reefs is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that surveys the biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems internationally. The project works to study what species live in coral reef ecosystems, to develop standardized protocols for studying coral reef ecosystems, and to...
): Coral Reefs
By enhancing global understanding of reef biodiversity, the CoML Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) conducted a taxonomically diversified global census of coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
ecosystems, increased tropical taxonomic knowledge, developed new, universal protocols (e.g. DNA-based technologies and long term sampling devices) and increased access to and exchange of coral reef data dispersed throughout the world.
- ICoMM (International Census of Marine MicrobesInternational Census of Marine MicrobesThe International Census of Marine Microbes is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that inventories microbial diversity by cataloging all known diversity of single-cell...
): Microbes
The International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM) facilitated the inventory of microbial diversity and developed a strategy to catalogue all known diversity of single-cell organisms inclusive of the Bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, Archaea
Archaea
The Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
, Protist
Protist
Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista, which includes mostly unicellular organisms that do not fit into the other kingdoms, but this group is contested in modern taxonomy...
a and associated viruses, and explored and discovered unknown microbial diversity, and placed that knowledge into appropriate ecological and evolutionary contexts.
- MAR-ECO (Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem ProjectMid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem ProjectThe Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem Project MAR-ECO is an international research project in which scientists from 16 nations take part. Norway, represented by the Institute of Marine Research and the University of Bergen, co-ordinates the project which will enhance our understanding of occurrence,...
): Mid-ocean Ridges
MAR-ECO described the patterns of distribution, abundance, and the trophic relationships among the organisms inhabiting the waters over and around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South...
. It identified and modeled the ecological processes that cause variability in these patterns. The project focused on fish, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, cephalopod
Cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s, and gelatinous plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
and other actively swimming organisms, but there was focus on top predators such as seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s and cetacea
Cetacea
The order Cetacea includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general. It comes from Ancient Greek , meaning "whale" or "any huge fish or sea...
ns, which interact with the more surface environment.
- NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas): Near Shore
The Natural Geography In Shore Areas (NaGISA) project was a collaborative effort aimed at inventorying and monitoring habitat specific biodiversity in the global nearshore. The international character of the project and its target zone were reflected in the word nagisa, which is Japanese for the narrow coastal zone where the land meets the sea. NaGISA held a unique position in the Census of Marine Life as an ambassador project, linking CoML to local interests around the world. NaGISA's first aim was to drawi up a global baseline of nearshore biodiversity and then use its network to continue monitoring those same shores for the next 50 years.
- GoMA (Gulf of Maine Program): Regional Ecosystems
The Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...
was selected as the ecosystem pilot study for CoML. This program gained knowledge to enable ecosystem-based management
Ecosystem-based management
Ecosystem-based management is an environmental management approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans, rather than considering single issues, species, or ecosystem services in isolation Ecosystem-based management is an environmental management...
in a large marine environment
Large marine ecosystem
Large marine ecosystems are regions of the world's oceans, encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundaries of continental shelves and the outer margins of the major ocean current systems...
. The program advanced knowledge of both biodiversity and ecological processes over a range of habitats and food-chain levels, from plankton to whales.
- CenSeam (Global Census of Marine Life on SeamountsGlobal Census of Marine Life on SeamountsGlobal Census of Marine Life on Seamounts is a global scientific initiative, launched in 2005, that is designed to expand the knowledge base of marine life at seamounts. Seamounts are underwater mountains, not necessarily volcanic in origin, which often form subsurface archipelagoes and are found...
): Seamounts
CenSeam was a global study of seamount
Seamount
A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...
ecosystems, to determine their role in the biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
, biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, productivity
Productivity (ecology)
In ecology, productivity or production refers to the rate of generation of biomass in an ecosystem. It is usually expressed in units of mass per unit surface per unit time, for instance grams per square metre per day. The mass unit may relate to dry matter or to the mass of carbon generated...
, and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
of marine organisms, and to evaluate the effects of human exploitation. CenSeam commenced in 2005 and the CenSeam science community, with particular input from CenSeam's Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG), defined two overarching priority themes (1) What factors drive community composition and diversity on seamounts, including any differences between seamounts and other habitat types? (2) What are the impacts of human activities on seamount community structure and function?
- TOPPTagging of Pacific PredatorsTagging of Pacific Predators began in 2000 as one of many projects formed by Census of Marine Life, an organization whose goal is to help understand and explain the diversity and abundances of the ocean in the past, present, and future...
(Tagging of Pacific PredatorsTagging of Pacific PredatorsTagging of Pacific Predators began in 2000 as one of many projects formed by Census of Marine Life, an organization whose goal is to help understand and explain the diversity and abundances of the ocean in the past, present, and future...
): Top Predators
The Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) research program was a collaboration among scientists from the U.S., Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, France and the UK, that applied new technologies to understanding the environmental basis for movements and behaviors of large pelagic animals in the North Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. With new electronic tags, TOPP scientists followed the migrations of marine fishes, turtles, birds, pinniped
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
s, whales and Humboldt squid
Humboldt Squid
The Humboldt squid , also known as jumbo squid, jumbo flying squid, pota or diablo rojo , is a large, predatory squid found in the waters of the Humboldt Current in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They are most commonly found at depths of , from Tierra del Fuego to California...
as they crisscrossed the Pacific basin. The results answer basic questions about the animals' biology including where they feed and breed, and what migration corridors they use.
- ChEss (Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic EcosystemsBiogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic EcosystemsThe Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems is a field project of the Census of Marine Life programme . The main aim of ChEss is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems...
): Vents and Seeps
ChEss improved the knowledge of the biodiversity and biogeography of species from deep-water chemosynthetically-driven
Chemosynthesis
In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis...
ecosystems at a global scale and increased the understanding of the processes that shape these communities. Scientist located under the ChEss umbrella were global in nature. ChEss addressed the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, within the realm of deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...
s, cold seep
Cold seep
A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool...
s, whale fall
Whale fall
Whale fall is the term used for a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor. Whale falls were first observed in the 1980s, with the advent of deep-sea robotic exploration....
s, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts. ChEss scientists combined results from research on all these systems in order to understand the phylogeographic relationships amongst all deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems.
ChEss scientist, Michel Segonzac, was co-finder of the popular media sensation Kiwa hirsuta
Kiwa hirsuta
Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean. This decapod, which is approximately long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae covering its pereiopods . Its discoverers dubbed it the "yeti lobster" or "yeti crab."-Identification:K...
(Yeti Crab).
- CMarZ (Census of Marine ZooplanktonCensus of Marine ZooplanktonThe Census of Marine Zooplankton is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that has aimed to produce a global assessment of the species diversity, biomass, biogeographic distribution, and genetic diversity of more than 7,000 described species of zooplankton that drift the ocean currents...
): Zooplankton
The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) worked toward a taxonomically comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world oceans. The project produced information on zooplankton
Zooplankton
Zooplankton are heterotrophic plankton. Plankton are organisms drifting in oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water. The word "zooplankton" is derived from the Greek zoon , meaning "animal", and , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"...
species diversity, biomass, biogeographical distribution, genetic diversity, and community structure. The taxonomic focus was the animals that drift with ocean currents throughout their lives (i.e., the holozooplankton). This assemblage currently includes ~7,000 described species in fifteen phyla. The Census encompassed unique marine environments and those likely to be inhabited by endemic and undescribed zooplankton species.
Non-field projects
Three non-field projects in which CoML is engaged are:- OBIS Ocean Biogeographic Information SystemOcean Biogeographic Information SystemThe Ocean Biogeographic Information System is a web-based access point to information about the distribution and abundance of living species in the ocean.-History:...
: Information System
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System, or OBIS, is an international information system focused on marine biodiversity. It provides expert geo-referenced data on marine species and currently contains more than 30 million georeferenced, accurately identified species records from more than 800 databases. OBIS provides spatial query tools for visualizing relationships among species and their environment. This information is readily and freely accessible by the Internet and requires no special software to use.
- FMAP (Future of Marine Animal PopulationsFuture of Marine Animal PopulationsThe Future of Marine Animal Populations project was one of the core projects of the international Census of Marine Life . FMAP's mission was to describe and synthesize globally changing patterns of species abundance, distribution, and diversity, and to model the effects of fishing, climate change...
): Oceans Future
FMAP attempted to describe and synthesize globally changing patterns of species abundance, distribution, and diversity, and to model the effects of fishing, climate change and other key variables on those patterns. This work was done across ocean realms and with an emphasis on understanding past changes and predicting future scenarios.
- HMAP (History of Marine Animal PopulationsHistory of Marine Animal PopulationsThe History of Marine Animal Populations is an international, interdisciplinary research initiative . It comprises the historical component of the Census of Marine Life and is designed to measure and explain patterns of long-term change in the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the...
) : Oceans Past
The History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) improved the understanding of ecosystem dynamics, specifically with regard to long-term changes in stock abundance, the ecological impact of large-scale harvesting by man, and the role of marine resources in the historical development of human society. Since the earliest historical records, man has harvested a variety of different animals from the oceans. While ecologists have traditionally aimed to identify the current conditions of many of the animal populations affected both directly and indirectly by harvesting, much less focus has been given to the status of affected populations in earlier times. HMAP created a historical reference point of marine populations against which modern populations can be compared to determine how ocean ecosystems are changing with respect to human impact and even climate change.
- Mapping & Visualization
A Mapping and Visualization Team based at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
's Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab developed and shared methods to display the results of the ten-year Census of Marine Life.
National and Regional Implementation Committees (NRICs)
One of the global goals of the Census of Marine Life was strengthening support for marine biodiversity research at the national or regional level that will continue after the CoML has concluded. Following in the footsteps of other successful global research programs, several nations and groups of nations brought together regional CoML stakeholders, such as researchers, government and non-government agencies, and resource managers, to assess the status of knowledge of marine biodiversity in their waters. These assessments led to the organization of National or Regional Implementation Committees (NRICs) to implement more local programs and improve the geographic scope of CoML and its projects. By engaging scientists, funding agencies, policy-makers and the broad user community, these national and regional committees identified their research and data priorities for marine biodiversity and find ways to make them happen by building partnerships, exploring funding opportunities for local science, and promoting CoML to local audiences. The committees worked under the umbrella of the CoML.Areas of the globe represented by an NRIC include:
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
- ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
- IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Republic of Korea
- South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
- Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
- USA
- Arabian SeaArabian SeaThe Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
Partnerships
- Encyclopedia of Life
CoML was a partner with the Encyclopedia of Life
Encyclopedia of Life
The Encyclopedia of Life is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and non-experts throughout the world...
in their effort to create descriptive web-page records for all the known species on Earth. CoML was an integral part on creating pages for marine species.
- Barcode of Life
CoML was a partner with Barcode of Life to help create DNA barcoding for the anticipated 230,000 marine species known thus far. CoML provided scientific data to Barcode of Life to greatly accelerate the process of creating DNA barcodes.
- Google Earth
Google and Census of Marine Life partnered on Google Earth 5.0. Ocean in Google Earth contains a layer devoted to the Census of Marine Life that allows users to follow scientists from the Census on expeditions and see marine life and features found during the Census.
Synthesis
The Census of Marine Life housed a Synthesis Group that integrated and synthesized the large amounts of information produced by CoML projects into common themes and overarching messages. This group produced a comprehensive and cohesive suite of products released to the public in 2010. Products include books, webpages, collections, articles, maps, and many others.Further reading
- Census Of Marine Life Lists 122,500 Known Species, Over Halfway To Complete Inventory By Oct. 2010 sciencedaily.com, June 2008
- Sciencemag.org article (Subscription required)
External links
- Census of Marine Life Webpage
- Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life(CeDAMar) Webpage
- Census of Antarctic Marine Life(CAML) Webpage
- Arctic Ocean Diversity(ArcOD) Webpage
- Continental Margin Ecosystems(COMARGE)Webpage
- Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project(POST) Webpage
- Census of Coral Reefs(CReefs) Webpage
- International Census of Marine Microbes(ICoMM) Webpage
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge Eco System Project(MAR-ECO) Webpage
- Natural Geography in Shore Areas(NaGISA) Webpage
- Gulf of Maine Program(GoMA)Webpage
- Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts(CenSeam)Webpage
- Special Issue: Recent Advances in Seamount Ecology (based on a field project from CenSeam)
- Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems(ChEss)Webpage
- Census of Marine Zooplankton(CMarZ) Webpage