Ocean Biogeographic Information System

‘Mission’

• OBIS publishes primary data on marine species locations online through www.iobis.org – It facilitates data discovery and exploration by

• Searching by species, higher taxa, time, location…• Mapping observed occurrences • Modelling of potential environmental range

– Integrates data over marine themes• Microbes to whales• Genetics and morphology• Poles to equator…

– Enables data capture for re-use• Data archaeology; discovery metadata

• Provides the biogeographic context for oceanic biological research

OBIS in context

• IT component of CoML– Capturing and integrating data– Support the 2010 synthesis

• Marine component of GBIF– Fully inter-operable with GBIF standards– Extending with marine-specific elements

• Begin/end point of tracks (trawl)

• Marine component of Species 2000– World register of Marine Species (WoRMS)– http://marinespecies.org

• Partner with IOC, FAO, IUCN, UNEP (WCMC)

• Hosted by Rutgers University IMCS, funded by Sloan Foundation

Governance

• Federation of organisations– Which share a vision: free and open

access to biodiversity information– Not a single project, with a single

source of funding

• Committees– Governing Board– Managers Committee

• Managers of Regional OBIS Nodes

– Science Board– Working groups

Funding• RONs are self-supporting

– Except for yearly meeting– Except for Sloan Grant to set

up shop for most

• Secretariat– Fully funded by Sloan till 2008 – 2/3 by Sloan from 2008-2010– After 2010?

Funding sources• Project funding

– Proposals submitted to NSF and NOAA

– Discussions with Fondation Total– ‘Help from our friends’

• Rutgers University in kind• Core business should not be

critically dependent on project (=short term) funding: OBIS is long-term infrastructure

Distribution of cod, Gadus morhua, shown as ‘c-squares’ map

OBIS records viewed

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Web statistics

Quality assurance

• Serve data from authoritative sources• Cross-check data statistics and map• User feedback buttons for each result• Usage is part of quality control

process• Editorial Board• Web statistics – monitor usage

(citation system)• Develop peer-review system

OBIS number of records

• 519 datasets• 17 million distribution records • 147,000 names, 104,000 taxa• Among the largest provider to

the Global Biodiversity Information Facility

• Who’s providing data?– Regional OBIS Nodes– Census of Marine Life

Map of CoML field projects

CoML & Ocean Observing

An example of how CoML technologies can be

implemented in earth and ocean observing systems

7 seals tracked during 2-3 month summer feeding migrations

Some animals dive 1000m

Some CoML Discoveries

Athorybia rosacea – a siphonophore from the

Sargasso Sea

Palinurus barbarae – a lobster from around Madagascar

Promachoteuthis sloani – a squid from the mid-Atlantic Ridge

Ceratoserolis – an isopod from the Weddell Sea

Kiwa hirsuta – a crab from around Easter

Island (nicknamed the Yeti crab)

Location of RONs

Public Accessibility

IOBIS

Global Datasets e.g.FAO, HexacoralliaFishbase &Seamounts

Data Found ByIOBIS Not FromGlobal Databases

Online Providers

Regional Node With Local DatasetsAnd Online Providers

RegionalSubset

All data

Regional Node With Local Datasets Only

GBIF

Global NodeRegional NodeProviderGlobal DatabaseRegional DatabaseProductsAll DataSubset of Data

OBIS Regional Node Architecture

RMB - March 14, 2004

Still a lot of work…

• We don’t know the total biodiversity– New species are discovered

• Selective sampling in geography– Mostly in surface waters– Temperate zones

• Selective sampling in taxonomy – Mostly big things, vertebrates

New species are discovered

Data from http://marinespecies.org

Analysis of OBIS data

• First attempts at diversity pattern on a global scale, with a large number of taxa– Previously either local or on one taxon

(e.g. commercial large fish like tuna, forams…)

– ‘Safety in numbers’• Results not affected by idiosyncrasies of

single taxon or study

• Results very preliminary, and need data cleaning and further checking– E.g. by artificially removing datasets

from analysis

Global pattern of sampling effort

Pattern in number of species

Corrected for bias: ES(50)

Large Marine Ecosystems

Latitudinal gradient ES(50)

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Marine fish to be discovered

Mora et al (2007). The completeness of taxonomic inventories for describing the global diversity and distribution of marine fishes. Proc. R. Soc. B, published on line

Percentage completeness 1 100

Predicting distribution of invasive species, Pterois volitans