Establishing the Foundation for the Global Observing System for Marine Life

Abstract

Maintaining healthy, productive ecosystems in the face of pervasive and accelerating human impacts including climate change requires globally coordinated and sustained observations of marine biodiversity. Global coordination is predicated on an understanding of the scope and capacity of existing monitoring programs, and the extent to which they use standardized, interoperable practices for data management. Global coordination also requires identification of gaps in spatial and ecosystem coverage, and how these gaps correspond to management priorities and information needs. We undertook such an assessment by conducting an audit and gap analysis from global databases and structured surveys of experts. Of 371 survey respondents, 203 active, long-term (>5 years) observing programs systematically sampled marine life. These programs spanned about 7% of the ocean surface area, mostly concentrated in coastal regions of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Seagrasses, mangroves, hard corals, and macroalgae were sampled in 6% of the entire global coastal zone. Two-thirds of all observing programs offered accessible data, but methods and conditions for access were highly variable. Our assessment indicates that the global observing system is largely uncoordinated which results in a failure to deliver critical information required for informed decision-making such as, status and trends, for the conservation and sustainability of marine ecosystems and provision of ecosystem services. Based on our study, we suggest four key steps that can increase the sustainability, connectivity and spatial coverage of biological Essential Ocean Variables in the global ocean: (1) sustaining existing observing programs and encouraging coordination among these; (2) continuing to strive for data strategies that follow FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable); (3) utilizing existing ocean observing platforms and enhancing support to expand observing along coasts of developing countries, in deep ocean basins, and near the poles; and (4) targeting capacity building efforts. Following these suggestions could help create a coordinated marine biodiversity observing system enabling ecological forecasting and better planning for a sustainable use of ocean resources.

Modelling approaches for capturing plankton diversity (MODIV), their societal applications and data needs

“…However, relevant traits across trophic levels remain scarcely measured, rarely consistently reported (different units, lack of adequate metadata including details on data quality and methods) and rarely shared in public data repositories (if so, typically with poor data latency). With only 7% of the ocean so far actively covered by long-term biological observations (Satterthwaite et al, 2021), current access to even the most basic biogeographic data on plankton biomass and abundance remains very limited (and virtually non-existent for microbes/ protists) and often hampered by its spread over various platforms and institutions. This is despite the recognition of phytoplankton, zooplankton and microbial biomass and abundance as Essential Ocean Variables (EOV), Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) (Miloslavich et al, 2018) and even Essential Climate Variables (GCOS, 2021).…”

Recommendations for Plankton Measurements on OceanSITES Moorings With Relevance to Other Observing Sites

“…Similarly, phytoplankton, the foundation of most aquatic food webs, play a fundamental role mediating the cycles of chemical elements in the ocean that are critical for life, including iron, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon. At present, however, geographic coverage of biological EOVs is poor [Satterthwaite et al (2021)]. Many pressing societal challenges related to sustainable fisheries and ocean health (e.g.…”

An ecosystem-based system of variables to enhance marine species and habitat monitoring and conservation: The Adriatic Natura 2000 case study

“…Diverse initiatives that can satisfy these needs are in place, dictated by both legally binding European (EU) frameworks for monitoring (e.g., the Water and the Marine Strategy Framework directives, WFD and MSFD, respectively;EC, 2000;EC, 2008), and global initiatives, such as the Essential Ocean and Biodiversity Variables frameworks (EOVs and EBVs) under the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), respectively (Pereira et al, 2013;Miloslavich et al, 2018). The synergistic combination of these frameworks represents an exceptional opportunity to boost marine biodiversity and ecological processes monitoring, directly funneling data and observations within decision-making processes and thoroughly depicting the status of the aquatic environment at multiple spatial scales (Zilioli et al, 2021;Satterthwaite et al, 2021). However, the advancement and implementation of these frameworks, despite urgent, are still ongoing with some weaknesses and delays (Borja et al, 2010;Rouillard et al, 2018;Manea et al, 2021).…”

“…Being conceived for acting at different spatial scales, from regional/national (WFD and MSFD) to global (EOVs and EBVs), monitoring frameworks can provide mutual benefits to each other and support conservation at the transboundary level. EOVs and EBVs need to be built on data collected systematically and comparable at multiple temporal and spatial scales (e.g., national, regional, and global) using current technology and existing efforts (Kissling et al, 2015;Brummit et al, 2017;Bax et al, 2018;Satterthwaite et al, 2021). Any research or observing program, initiative, and infrastructure can contribute to EOV and EBV development, independently by the scale on which it acts (Kissling et al, 2018).…”