1. * Chair OBIS International Committee m.costello@auckland.ac.nz Ocean Biogeographic Information System Evolution and challenges in creating OBIS Mark J. Costello (Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland) * Fred Grassle and Yunquing Zhang (Rutgers University) Karen Stocks (University of California San Diego) Tony Rees (CSIRO Hobart)

2. Today’s challenges Global scale impacts Over-fishing Over-fishing Invasive species Invasive species Climate change Climate change Pollution Pollution Do not know what, where and when without the facts (the data)

3. How do we know anything? Knowledge from data ! Empirical basis of science Empirical basis of science No knowledge without data No knowledge without data More data leads to more knowledge More data leads to more knowledge Facts remain despite changing theories Facts remain despite changing theories More irreplaceable with time More irreplaceable with time Always increases in value Always increases in value Future value may not be anticipated Future value may not be anticipated

4. New technologies enable Data collection over large areas Data collection over large areas –Satellites, acoustic seabed mapping –ROV video, telemetry Data management and exchange Data management and exchange –GIS –World wide web

5. New interdiscipinary science of Ocean Biodiversity informatics Using information technology to better manage marine biodiversity and environmental data and information

6. Opportunities provided by informatics Increase communication Increase communication Make data widely available to scientific community Make data widely available to scientific community Rapid publication Rapid publication Data mining and exploration Data mining and exploration Low cost publication of maps and images Low cost publication of maps and images Interactive and/or user-defined readability Interactive and/or user-defined readability Data management tools widely available at little to no cost Data management tools widely available at little to no cost Are there other opportunities ?

7. Informatics helps management Make metadata more accessible Make metadata more accessible Make data more accessible Make data more accessible Enable better use of existing data Enable better use of existing data Identify gaps in data that may need filling Identify gaps in data that may need filling Better communication for data and environmental management Better communication for data and environmental management

8. Species informatics aids research Globally accessible species registers: Help minimise nomenclatural confusion Free up experts time to describe new species Repatriate data to developing countries Provide a low cost rapid medium for the publication of images, sounds, data and syntheses Rapid (automated) calculation statistics “how many?”

9. Is biodiversity informatics launching a new era in marine biology? Always local scale, efforts of a few 200 years of “natural history” 200 years of “natural history” 50 years of “ecology” 50 years of “ecology” 10 years of “biodiversity” 10 years of “biodiversity” Recent top papers in marine biology address ocean scale impacts of fisheries address ocean scale impacts of fisheries Ability to combine large datasets collected by many is transforming our view of the oceans Ability to combine large datasets collected by many is transforming our view of the oceans

10. Examples at large spatial scales

11. Shark declines (Pacific long-line fishery) From Baum, Myers, Kehler, Worm, Harley & Doherty. Science. Jan. 2003

12. Related biodiversity Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Taxonomic Data Working Group (TDWG) Species 2000 Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

13. Species lists need context Distribution is the most important attribute of species, and can be used to map resources (e.g. fisheries) map resources (e.g. fisheries) observe trends in time observe trends in time provide insights into provide insights into - evolutionary history of faunas - factors contributing to biodiversity

14. Photo-montage by Pal Mortensen Reef Transition zone Coral debris How important are deep-sea cold-water coral reefs as a habitat in the North Atlantic? Deep sea coral reefs (Lophelia)

15. Records of Lophelia pertusa from Rogers (2001) – a significant habitat Reefs can be 40km long!

16. Ocean Biogeographic Information System Mapping marine life over the internet www.iobis.org

17. OBIS network Marine scientists and organizations around over the world collaborating Data from museums, fisheries, universities and ecological surveys, including CoML field projects Unique network for marine biogeography at a global scale Associate Member of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF, IODE, IOC IOOS, Ocean.US NODC Species 2000, ITIS, TDWG IABO, SCOR CSIRO, DFO, NOAA, NMFS, ICES, FAO MARBEF (EurOBIS), EuroCAT, BioCASE, CORONA

18. Funding Launched by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (New York) as the data management component of the global Census of Marine Life CoML is until 2010, but OBIS will continue International Committee members obtain funding from NSF, EU, national agencies US$30 million committed to 2006, funding proposals submitted on a project by project basis 2000 2005 2010 Online data served Demo Interoperable Major data capture and rescue Modelling Global census of fish Global census of marine life

19. Currently on-line in OBIS Global corals and anemones squid and octopus mammals, turtles, birds (SEAMAP) plankton (NODC, ZooGene, SAHFOS-CPR) Fish (FishBase, FishNet) Species from global seamountsFisheries Canadian fishery surveys Canadian fishery surveys Historical fish data back to 1600 (HMAP) Historical fish data back to 1600 (HMAP) anemones

20. Indo-pacific snails and bivalves Australian Antarctic sea mammals and birds Bermuda Atlantic Time Series zooplankton (BATS) Centre database Mid-water animals from Southampton Oceanography Centre database BioMar benthos from Ireland BioMar benthos from Ireland Belgium North Sea data Belgium North Sea data Ghent taxonomic data Ghent taxonomic data NOAA benthic inventory NOAA benthic inventory USA EPA EMAP data USA EPA EMAP data Regional data in OBIS

21. OBIS data sources Databases centered on Taxonomic group (literature sources) Taxonomic group (literature sources) Field surveys (benthos, plankton) Field surveys (benthos, plankton) Fishery surveys Fishery surveys Museum collections Museum collections

22. OBIS Data Sources (November 2004)Total Records SAHFOS_CPR_ZOOPLANKTON1,467,694 NODC WOD01 Plankton1,281,125 FishBase793,318 SAHFOS_CPR_PHYTOPLANKTON721,921 OBIS-SEAMAP281,735 History of Marine Animals (HMAP)242,384 NWAGSCOL (Canadian Regional Node)228,519 Elephant Seal Sightings, Macquarie Island199,499 NBI154,458 Atlantic Reference Centre, Canada127,876 AADC_seabirds101,289 Southampton O.C. Discovery Collections93,350 BIOMAR Project Ireland92,959 DFO Scotian Summer Research Trawl60,109 EPA EMAP DATABASE41,703 Canadian Museum of Nature - Fish39,920 Taxonomic Info. System Belgium36,936 Hexacorals Database27,438 Gwaii Haanas Invertebrates24,311

23. OBIS Data Sources (November 2004)Total Records Ifremer BIOCEAN deep Sea Benthos23,876 AADC_weddell_sightings17,588 Indo-Pacific Mollusks16,261 AADC_herbarium10,204 Generic Taxonomical Database System9,745 SeamountsOnline7,394 AADC_whale_catch7,122 Gwaii Haanas Marine Plants6,353 Eastern Canada Benthic Macrofauna5,650 AADC_weddell_census4,603 Ichthyoplankton Scotian Shelf of N.America4,169 CephBase3,175 Bay of Fundy Species2,381 AADC_ellie_sightings_heard1,794 Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre1,365 BATS Zooplankton635 Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History579 Marine Invertebrate Diversity Initiative295 ZooGene114

24. Where is OBIS data from? November 2004 Seabed – benthos Open water – pelagos, plankton

25. Most data in OBIS for fish Invertebrates 200,000 species described Fish 30,000 species described

26. Names, species and records in OBIS Nov. 2004 CategoryNumber marine names, OBIS + CoL Number of records Number species with point data All categories118709413829736856 Vertebrates17472141192913318 Mammals13316097770 Birds385218617187 Reptiles12117607 Fishes16942102057513054 Invertebrates (any)66673168997920465

27. Some invertebrates Tunicates46020787166 Sea squirts (ascidians)4309107147 Echinoderms130215683597 Bryozoans12387510455 Crustaceans2343312605024909 Chelicerates125947889 Annelids5011919732650 Polychaetes4327907352516 Molluscs145511343115307 Gastropods10442897923564 Bivalves2749272571145 Nematodes426841261949

28. Cnidaria, plants, protists, microbes Anthozoans4645311652638 Sea anemones2410137712145 Stony corals154715824398 Hydrozoans227449452673 Sponges16479986297 Seagrasses531214 Macroalgae (seaweeds)1194625186881 Microalgae202069935201957 Dinoflagellates1542341919690 Diatoms8964609485905 Unicellular green microalgae 41674128101 Protozoans203610330191 Cyanobacteria33720133

29. Distributed, cached, indexed data system Features seamless access of data from multiple sources to the user seamless access of data from multiple sources to the user federated federated interoperable interoperable user-friendly user-friendly data portability data portability low hardware and software dependancy low hardware and software dependancy

30. December 2004, OBIS serves: In cache 5.6 million records 5.6 million records 40,000 species 40,000 species 60,000 names 60,000 names 38 source databases 38 source databases March 2004 – 2.8 million records March 2004 – 2.8 million records October 2003 – 1 million records October 2003 – 1 million records In Index (edited data) 4.1 million records at genus level 4.1 million records at genus level 37,000 species 37,000 species 119,000 names (CoL) 119,000 names (CoL) amongst largest data providers to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility www.gbif.org

31. Present OBIS tools Mapping over environment features KGS Mapper (ARC- IMS) KGS Mapper (ARC- IMS) C-Squares C-Squares System building DiGIR DiGIR XML XML Prediction /analysis  KGS Mapper range finder  WhyWhere Species names  Species name service (using Catalogue of Life)

32. Green or shore crab, Carcinus maenas Invasive species in west North Atlantic KGS Mapper – maps where similar environmental conditions occur

33. Major surveys British benthic marine life (MarLIN) British benthic marine life (MarLIN) New Zealand Bryozoa New Zealand Bryozoa East Mediterranean & Black Sea East Mediterranean & Black Sea Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss) Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss) Other CoML field projects Other CoML field projects Global marine taxa Aplacophora (primitive molluscs) Aplacophora (primitive molluscs) Nemertea (ribbon worms) Nemertea (ribbon worms) Trematode (flukes) parasites of fish Trematode (flukes) parasites of fish Turbellaria (flatworms) Turbellaria (flatworms) Porifera (SpongeBase) Porifera (SpongeBase) Seaweeds and other algae Seaweeds and other algae Serpulidae (tube worms) Serpulidae (tube worms) Ostracoda (clam-like crustaceans) Ostracoda (clam-like crustaceans) Data capture coming soon to OBIS !

34. OBIS questions How to globalize OBIS? Taxonomically Taxonomically Geographically Geographically Institutionally Institutionally Foster expertise Foster expertise Regional ‘nodes’ Regional ‘nodes’ Partnerships Partnerships OBIS priorities? Data rescue Data capture On-line tools Ocean data overlays Species information (identification, genetic, images) Education & outreach Other

35. Current OBIS activities Data capture More species distribution data, e.g. EurOBIS Technical development mapping, modeling, species name services, indexes, software tools standards for data sharing Time series data search Management Regional nodes – global network Hire Programme Manager Intellectual property agreements User monitoring to guide development Quality control system Educational modules

36. OBIS Management Committee = Regional Nodes Managers Australia Canada China Europe India Japan New Zealand South America Sub-Saharan Africa

37. Public Accessibility IOBIS Global Datasets e.g. FAO, Hexacorallia Fishbase & Seamounts Data Found By IOBIS Not From Global Databases Online Providers Regional Node With Local Datasets And Online Providers Regional Subset All data Regional Node With Local Datasets Only GBIF Global Node Regional Node Provider Global Database Regional Database Products All Data Subset of Data OBIS Regional Node Architecture RMB - March 14, 2004

38. OBIS informatics challenges Nomenclatures Authoritative species names directories Authoritative species names directories –ambiguous and unambiguous synonyms, misspellings, misapplications, taxon splits Geographic (gazetteers) Geographic (gazetteers) –georeferencing and mapping of place names Habitat classifications and standards (ecoinformatics) Habitat classifications and standards (ecoinformatics) Merging data Merging data –Automated cross-checking of nomenclatures Mapping Polygons Polygons Lines (large animal tracks) Lines (large animal tracks) Integration with ocean data maps Integration with ocean data maps

39. Interoperability and portal function Interoperability and portal function –Exclusion duplicates and redundant data –Checking outliers and irregularities –Middleware (wrappers, cross-mapping) –Data exchange protocols –Expanding standard data fields (Darwin Core) –Crediting sources –Metadata accessibility –Indexing –Cache OBIS informatics challenges

40. Data availability most paid for by tax-payer most paid for by tax-payer accessibility variable accessibility variable No incentives to make freely available No incentives to make freely available e.g. citation of source into citation indices, data publication at same time as syntheses and analyses

41. 5 science culture challenges 1. 1. Data sharing part of scientific process in marine biology 2. 2. Data publication on-line becomes standard practice 3. 3. Quality control for scientific credibility 4. 4. Recognition value on-line publication in individual’s research performance 5. 5. Citation rankings of on-line publications

42. OBIS – future uses Revelations from new data analysis Effects of climate change Effects of climate change Predicting spread of invasive species Predicting spread of invasive species Biodiversity hotspots at species and phylum levels Biodiversity hotspots at species and phylum levels Interconnected-ness of ocean regions (seascape ecology) Interconnected-ness of ocean regions (seascape ecology) Phylo- and macro- geography – evolution of fauna and flora at population and species levels Phylo- and macro- geography – evolution of fauna and flora at population and species levels Expanded infrastructure ? Catalogue of all marine life (CaML) Catalogue of all marine life (CaML) Species identification and information Species identification and information Habitat classification and mapping Habitat classification and mapping

43. Achievable vision  All valid marine species names on-line within 7 years  All known marine species listed in the Catalogue of Life  Species guides (descriptions and images) on-line  Species distributions on-line  Improved quality control in identification and taxonomy  Increased rate of species being described  New discoveries and understandings of role of biodiversity in ecosystems based on data