Ocean Biogeographic Information System

Ward AppeltansUNESCO, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO)

International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE)Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS)

Census of Marine Life

OBIS was established as the data repository and information

dissemination system for CoML

OBIS is the world’s largest open access,

online data system on the diversity,

distribution and abundance

of marine species

+42 million observations

116,000 marine species

+1,700 datasets

www.iobis.org

>450 data providers in 56 countries

1,000 papers have cited OBISincrement of 7 papers per month

(4)

(9)

(5)

UNESCO-IOC/IODE/OBIS

"Knowledge of the ocean’s biodiversity is of

such importance to national and global

environmental issues that the responsibility

for OBIS’s continuing success should be

assumed by governments” IOC 2009OBIS secretariat, database +

website moved from Rutgers

University (USA) to the IOC Project

Office for IODE in Oostende

(Belgium)

In June 2009, the 25th Session of the IOC Assembly decided through

Resolution XXV-4 to adopt OBIS as part of IODE

The IOC of UNESCO since 1960Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

Since 1987, Functional autonomy in UNESCO

147 Member States

Often gives UNESCO 2 seats at the table (UNFCCC, CBD, Rio+20, etc)

UNCLOS: IOC = competent international organization for Marine Scientific Researchand Transfer of Marine Technology

International cooperation and coordination of programmes in ocean research, observation and services to generate knowledge and capacity for sustainable ocean management

IODE of IOC since 1961

88

IODE VISIONa comprehensive and integrated ocean data and information system, serving the broad and diverse needs of IOC Member States, for both routine and scientific use

80 IODE Data Centres

International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange programme

Supporting broad mandates of IOC and its Member States in marine biodiversity science, observation and services, and through capacity development support the generation and use data and information.

OBIS

Needs in ABNJ

SST, color, wind,

Wave height, altimetry

T, S, currents,

MLD

Atmospheric pressure,

Winds, turbulence

De

pth

(m

)

Endangered Ocean

Species

• seasonally migratory• dynamic environments• not directly observable

We need to further develop technologies to “illuminate” the undersea

environment in order to exam the movement and behavior of these animals

Ocean Observatories

More information & awareness…

Remote Sensing

Management applications

Issues: • Not evenly distributed• Not easily accessible • Requires significant effort to turn data

into information

Need: synthesize a wide variety of data collection into

relevant information & make this information

available

Indicators to national, regional and

global assessments of the Ocean

14

Current state of knowledge

How many species in the Ocean?

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

1760 1810 1860 1910 1960 2010

Number of

species or

authors

Years

230,000 marine species described up to now ~0.5-2.2 million marine species (statistic models) (Costello, 2012 - Mora, 2011)0.7-1.0 million marine species (expert opinion) (Appeltans, 2012)

~2,000 new species described per year (World Register of Marine Species)

0 0.5 1 100

101

102

103

104

105

106

NOBISPspecies in OBIS

Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

Bony fish

Sharks & Rays

Other fish

Other chordates

Echinoderms

Crabs, lobsters, shrimp etc.

Other crustaceans

Cephalopods

Gastropods

Bivalves

Other molluscs

Brittle worms

Flat worms

Corals, anenomes etc.

Other cnidarians

Comb jellies

Sponges

Other invertebrates

Fungi

Seagrasses

Mangroves

Other plants

Green algae

Red algae

Brown algae

Protozoans

Bacteria & Archaea

How many speciesin OBIS?

Mammals, birds, fish >50%

Invertebrates, protists, chromista <50%

Two third of known species are uniques

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

Nr of records through time (latitude)

Global monitoring since 1950

Progressively increased in the Southern Hemisphere

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

Nr of records through time (longitude)

Year

Lon

gitud

e

−180

−120

−60

0

60

120

180

pre−

18

00

19th

C

19

00

19

10

19

20

19

30

19

40

19

50

19

60

19

70

19

80

19

90

20

00

20

10

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

S-E Pacific

W-Indian Ocean

Nr of records through time (distance from nearest land)

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

Nr of records through time

(sampling depth)

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

Nr of sampling days per depth volume

Appeltans W., Dujardin F., Flavell M., Miloslavich P., Webb T. (2015). Biodiversity Baselines in the Global Ocean. In: Fischer A. et al (Eds). Open Ocean Technical Assessment Report for the GEF Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP). UNEP, IOC-UNESCO. In press.

±99% of ocean volume is still undersampled

(<100 sampling days, <713 records, <13 species per 10,000 km3)

Coastal

Arc

tic O

ce

an

India

n O

ce

an

Nort

h A

tla

ntic

Sou

th A

tla

ntic

No

rth

Pacific

South

Pacific

So

uth

ern

Oce

an

Protozoaother Plantae

RhodophytaChlorophyta

Fungiother Chromista

PhaeistaKhakistaMyzozoa

ForaminiferaCiliophora

other AnimaliaPorifera

PlatyhelminthesNemerteaNematoda

Molluscaother Echinodermata

EchinozoaAsterozoa

Cnidariaother Chordata

other VertebrataPisces

TunicataBryozoa

other ArthropodaHexapodaCrustacea

ChelicerataAnnelida

Open Ocean

Arc

tic O

ce

an

India

n O

ce

an

Nort

h A

tla

ntic

Sou

th A

tla

ntic

No

rth

Pacific

South

Pacific

So

uth

ern

Oce

an

Protozoa

Plantae

Fungi

Chromista

Animalia

Taxonomic richness and gaps

Nspecies

100

101

102

103

Biodiversity indices

ES 50

CompletenessBased on Chao2

Nr of Threatened species

IUCN Redlist categories EN, CR, VU

Nr of species “potentially extinct”?

Species with >10 records but not observed anymore in the last 50 years

Species richness indices per fixed areas

Hulbert index per MPA

Hulbert index per LME

Invasive species

Lionfish invasion in the Caribbean (Blue before 1985, orange after 1984)

Climate Change impactsLatitude shifts

Pre-1990 Post-1990

Dujardin, F. Distribution of Tropical species in OBIS, unpublished data, MSc Thesis Ghent University

0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

-40 0 40

latitude

de

nsity

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

-40 0 40

latitude

de

nsity

Species shifting away from the equator?

Pteropod shells are dissolving

Work in progress as part of the GEOWOW project. Unpublished figures. Copyright Steeve Comeau and James OrrPteropod data from OBIS, Aragonite saturation data from James Orr, Model from Steeve Comeau

By the end of the century pteropodshells will be degraded by 50 to 80%.

Changes in community structure

Fulmar

PEAK based on Nr of records

Relative abundance

From Dunn et al. 2011

OBIS contributions to the CBD EBSA process

Biological Diversity all taxaWider Caribbean and Western

Mid-Atlantic workshop, Recife,

Brazil, February 2012

Proposed site meeting EBSA criteria:

Abrolhos Bank & Vitoria-Trindade ChainDescribed in-part due to high regional biodiversity

as depicted using OBIS data.

Goal: Evaluation of EBSA sites described

to date with respect to migratory species

The CBD EBSA Procsss

EBSAs and migratory species

10% Principal 70% Contributory

20% Not mentioned

~80% of EBSAs refer to CMS species as part of the

justification

Green turtles

Source SWOT / OBIS-SEAMAP

Areas of oil & gas potential vs. ecological importance

Ecologically or Biologically Important Areas Oil & Gas Potential

"Assessment units (AUs) in the Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) color-coded by assessed probability of the presence of at least one undiscovered oil and/or gas field with recoverable resources greater than 50 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE).

USGS 2008/2011. Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal: Estimates of undiscovered oil and gas north of the Arctic Circle.

Threats and Status of fin whale

Source OBIS-SEAMAP

Global population might have been as high as 500,000 before commercial whaling of thespecies. The fin whale population today is estimated to be 14,620 to 18,630 in the NorthPacific; 3,590 to 6,300 in the western North Atlantic; 10,500 in the eastern North Atlantic;and 85,200 in the Southern Oceans.

Main threats to fin whales include: Entanglement in debris/fishing gear

Noise pollution

Ship strikes

Cetacean observations, navy training areas,

shipping channels and renewable energy lease

blocksHow may predicted changes in

ocean climate effect planning and management at the scale of MSP?

Animal density estimates at the scale of Marine Spatial Planning

Fin whale:

abundance /

density season

These models are used to estimate official “takes” for marine mammal protection act and endangered species act regulations in the USA

OBIS-SEAMAP

Data

Information

Current Forecasting Process

(1) animal observation data

(2) ocean observation data

(3) statistical analysis & modeling

(4) spatial decision support system

Temporally

matched

covariates

GAM models of

density

&

habitat

How to access OBIS?

Association of observation points

with oceanographyObservation data associated with

Bottom depth

Temperature

Salinity

Nitrogen / Oxygen

Phosphate / Silicate

Visualized through interactive graphs

Time-series graphs

Histograms

Climate variables from World Ocean Atlas

Example map #1Cetacean species observations in LME region ‘Celtic-Biscay Shelf’(no environmental conditions set)

Example map #2Cetacean species observations in LME region ‘Celtic-Biscay Shelf’ filtered by a temperature range of 13 to 15 degrees

OBIS allows extraction of observations

based on environmental conditions

Species climate envelopes

Calanus finmarchicus

Species depth distribution

Calanus finmarchicus

Capacity Development

OBIS trainingsAccess, process, quality control, publish and use marine biodiversity data

Capacity Development

All lectures remain available online via video and powerpoint

www.oceanteacher.org

IOC Ocean Teacher Regional Training Centres

www.oceanteacher.org

“To ensure equitable participation of all

States in global initiatives”

Conservation of biodiversity in ABNJ

New York, May 2013 BBNJ workshop, technical experts recognized OBIS as an appropriate mechanism for data and information sharing in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

The Ocean Teacher Global Academy is a direct response to the need expressed in the UNCLOS Article 276 with regard to the establishment of regional centres, in order to stimulate and advance the conduct of marine scientific research, particularly by developing States, and to foster the transfer of marine technology.

This call was reiterated in the outcome document of the Third International conference on SIDS held in Samoa last September.

Sustainable Development Goals

Proposed goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

14.a increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacities and transfer marine technology taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular SIDS and LDCs

Post-2015 Agenda

OBIS & ISA

We recommend an international field program and coordinated data repository be developed in conjunction with the International Seabed Authority and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO's Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) and possibly other global networks. Such a program should generate in a systematic and transparent way the baseline information necessary to evaluate and model impacts, enact protections, and regulate the mining of mineral resources in the deep sea.

Link with UNCLOS part XI-2 The Area -Marine Scientific Research

Art 143 (c) effectively disseminating the results of research and analysis when available, through the Authority or other international channels when appropriate.

Benefit sharing : funding a global deep-ocean data repository

One Planet – One Ocean

THANK YOU