From Data to Marine Ecosystem Assessments of the Southern Ocean: Achievements, Challenges, and Lessons for the Future

Abstract

Southern Ocean ecosystems offer numerous benefits to human society and the global environment, and maintaining them requires well-informed and effective ecosystem-based management. Up to date and accurate information is needed on the status of species, communities, habitats and ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries, tourism and climate change. This information can be used to generate indicators and undertake assessments to advise decision-makers. Currently, most marine assessments are derivative: reliant on the review of published peer-reviewed literature. More timely and accurate information for decision making requires an integrated Marine Biological Observing and Informatics System that combines and distributes data. For such a system to work, data needs to be shared according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), use transparent and reproducible science, adhere to the principle of action ecology and complement global initiatives. Here we aim to provide an overview of the components of such a system currently in place for the Southern Ocean, the existing gaps and a framework for a way forward.

Reviews and syntheses: A framework to observe, understand and project ecosystem response to environmental change in the East Antarctic Southern Ocean

“…Although concepts for standardized protocols, operating procedures and data integration do exist (see e.g. Miller et al, 2015;Piazza et al, 2019; Van de Putte et al, 2021), they have not been frequently and consequently implemented. They have to be urgently ap-plied to acquire large-scale and long-term comparable biogeographic data.…”

“…Large-scale oceanographic features potentially exposed to climate change impact this region (Fig. 1): the Weddell Gyre branches off the eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC; van Heuven et al, 2011) and converges between Gunnerus Ridge (30 • E) and the Ekström Ice Shelf (8 • W), with the westward-flowing Antarctic Coastal Current (ACoC) near the coast and ice-shelf fronts and the Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) along the continental slope facilitating zonal connectivity and shaping the coastal environment. An overturning circulation (Jullion et al, 2014) with strong links to the carbon cycle (MacGilchrist et al, 2019) is associated with this circulation that is driven by winds and modulated buoyancy fluxes due to sea-ice melting, freezing and ice-shelf-ocean interactions.…”

“…2) were compiled as a basis for the proposal for a Weddell Sea marine protected area (WSMPA; Teschke et al, 2020a, b). Basic circumpolar biogeographic and biodiversity knowledge was published in the biogeographic atlas of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (De Broyer et al, 2014; Van de Putte et al, 2021).…”

Polar biodiversity data: From a national marine platform to a global data portal

“…1 Ecosystem assessments, which can be used to generate indicators to advise decision-makers on impact of fisheries, tourism, or climate changes and biodiversity, are a fundamental aspect of ecosystem health. 2 To understand biodiversity changes, patterns, and relationships within and between ecosystems require well-organized, integrated, and accessible biodiversity information. Initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility 3 (GBIF), Ocean Biodiversity Information System 4 (OBIS), or SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal 5 are instrumental for integration of, and access to, biodiversity information.…”

Myctobase, a circumpolar database of mesopelagic fishes for new insights into deep pelagic prey fields

“…However, much of the data for mesopelagic fishes archived in these repositories are for species occurrence only, without information on abundance or biomass. Often, the methodological metadata (such as net-type or depth of trawl) are also lacking, further limiting the scope of the analyses 1,30 .…”