Abstract
The Census of Marine Life aims to assess and explain the changing diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine species from the past to the present, and to project future ocean life. It assembles known historical data back to 1500 in an online Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) and has over 1000 scientists from 70 countries using advanced technologies to quantify and discover unknown life in under-explored ocean realms. Over 99% of the 6 million records now in OBIS are from the top 1000m of the water column, so the mid-waters and floor of the open ocean and the polar ice oceans are special targets. Even where the species are known, their distributions and abundance are largely speculative. This report outlines the strategies of COML projects to efficiently reveal the 95% of the biosphere beneath the waves, from microbes to whales. Open access to the OBIS data set will improve capacity to predict future impacts of climate and human activity. The baseline created by 2010 and the calibrated techniques developed will become important tools for monitoring and managing future ocean ecosystems to maintain their capacity to provide crucial services to our blue planet.
Highlights
RESUMEN: EL CENSO DE LA VIDA MARINA: OBJETVOS, ÁMBITO Y ESTRATEGIA. – El programa denominado Censo de la Vida
Censusing many trillions of moving organisms belonging to millions of diverse species in the threedimensional oceans of the world challenges marine scientists
Strategy: For the world’s few thousand marine scientists to progress beyond exploration to a global census requires wise strategies, or else decades could pass while interesting work falls short of the cumulative progress possible
Summary
PROMOTING MARINE SCIENCE: CONTRIBUTIONS TO CELEBRATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SCIENTIA MARINA. Marina (Census of Marine Life - COML), tiene por objeto evaluar y explicar la diversidad, distribución y abundancia actual de las especies marinas, considerando también lo acontecido con la biodiversidad en el pasado y proyectándose hacia el futuro. Biogeographic Information System - OBIS) y coordina a más de 1000 investigadores de 70 países, quienes utilizando tecnologías avanzadas cuantifican y descubren la vida desconocida de los dominios oceánicos menos explorados. Este informe presenta las estrategias de los proyectos del Programa COML para explorar eficientemente el 95% de la biosfera que yace bajo las olas, desde microorganismos hasta ballenas. El acceso abierto a los datos recogidos en OBIS, perfeccionarán la capacidad de predecir los futuros impactos del clima y de la actividad humana sobre la biodiversidad marina, su distribución y abundancia.
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