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Gulf Of Maine Program
The Census of Marine Life was a 10-year, US $650 million scientific initiative, involving a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations, engaged to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life — past, present, and future — was released in 2010 in London. Initially supported by funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the project was successful in generating many times that initial investment in additional support and substantially increased the baselines of knowledge in often underexplored ocean realms, as well as engaging over 2,700 different researchers for the first time in a global collaborative community united in a common goal, and has been described as "one of the largest scientific collaborations ever conducted". Project history According to Jesse Ausubel, Senior Research Associate of the Program for the Human Environment of Rockefeller University and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation. It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclopedia Of Life
The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non-experts throughout the world. It aims to build one "infinitely expandable" page for each species, including video, sound, images, graphics, as well as text. In addition, the Encyclopedia incorporates content from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, which digitizes millions of pages of printed literature from the world's major natural history libraries. The project was initially backed by a US$50 million funding commitment, led by the MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation, who provided US$20 million and US$5 million, respectively. The additional US$25 million came from five cornerstone institutions—the Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Smithsonian Institutio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tagging Of Pacific Predators
Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) began in 2000 as one of many projects formed by Census of Marine Life, an organization whose goal is to help understand and explain the diversity and abundances of the ocean in the past, present, and future. After they were formed, TOPP began by building a coalition of researchers from all over the world to find and study predators of the Pacific Ocean. Since then, they have satellite-tagged 22 different species and more than 2,000 animals. These animals include elephant seals, great white sharks, leatherback turtles, squid, albatrosses, and more. Through the efforts of TOPP, information never before accessed by humans was now available, such as migration routes and ecosystems, but from the animals', rather than human, aspects. It also became possible to learn about the ocean itself through use of the animals, because they can go where humans cannot. We learn through their everyday actions, and through these data, researchers have been able to det ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Census Of Marine Zooplankton
The Census of Marine Zooplankton is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that has aimed to produce a global assessment of the species diversity, biomass, biogeographic distribution, and genetic diversity of more than 7,000 described species of zooplankton that drift the ocean currents throughout their lives. CMarZ focuses on the deep sea, under-sampled regions, and biodiversity hotspots. From 2004 until 2011, Ann Bucklin was the lead scientist for the project. Technology plays a great role in CMarZ's research, including the use of integrated morphological and molecular sampling through DNA Barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called "sequences"), an indiv .... CMarZ makes its datasets available via the CMarZ Database. References External links CMarZAlfred Wegener Institute archi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Census Of Marine Microbes
The International Census of Marine Microbes is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that inventories microbial diversity by cataloging all known diversity of single-cell organisms including bacteria, Archaea, Protista, and associated viruses, exploring and discovering unknown microbial diversity, and placing that knowledge into ecological and evolutionary contexts. The ICoMM program, led by Mitchell Sogin Dr. Mitchell Sogin is a distinguished senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, whose research investigates the evolution and diversity of single-celled organisms. Career Dr. Sogin obtained a BS in Chemist ..., has discovered that marine microbial diversity is some 10 to 100 times more than expected, and the vast majority are previously unknown, low abundance organisms thought to play an important role in the oceans. References External links ICoMM Website Marine biology {{biology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulf Of Maine Program
The Census of Marine Life was a 10-year, US $650 million scientific initiative, involving a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations, engaged to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life — past, present, and future — was released in 2010 in London. Initially supported by funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the project was successful in generating many times that initial investment in additional support and substantially increased the baselines of knowledge in often underexplored ocean realms, as well as engaging over 2,700 different researchers for the first time in a global collaborative community united in a common goal, and has been described as "one of the largest scientific collaborations ever conducted". Project history According to Jesse Ausubel, Senior Research Associate of the Program for the Human Environment of Rockefeller University and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Census Of Coral Reefs
The Census of Coral Reefs (CReefs) is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that surveys the biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems internationally. The project works to study what species live in coral reef ecosystems, to develop standardized protocols for studying coral reef ecosystems, and to increase access to and exchange of information about coral reefs scattered throughout the globe. The CReefs project uses the implementation of autonomous reef-monitoring structures (ARMS) to study the species that inhabit coral reefs. These structures are placed on the sea floor in areas where coral reefs exist, where they are left for one year. At the end of the year, the ARMvS is pulled to the surface, along with the species which have inhabited it, for analysis. Coral reefs are thought to be the most organically different of all marine ecosystems. Major declines in key reef ecosystems suggest a decline in reef population throughout the world due to environmental stresses. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Geography In Shore Areas
NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa" ("where the land meets the sea"), it is an Apronym. NaGISA is the first project of the larger CoML effort (Census of Marine Life) to have global participation in actual field work. The actual procedures of this project involve inexpensive collection equipment (for easy universal participation). This equipment is used to photograph sampling sites, to actually take samples from the sites, and to process these samples. At each site throughout the world, samples are taken from the intertidal zone out to a depth of 10 meters (and optionally out to 20 meters depth). These samples are then processed (the organisms are isolated) and then analyzed and catalogued. The information (regarding the kind and number of organisms analyzed) is sent to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project
The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (POST) is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that researches the behavior of marine animals through the use of ocean telemetry and data management systems. This system of telemetry consists of highly efficient lines of acoustic receivers that create sections of the continental shelf along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The acoustic receivers pick up signals from the tagged animals as they pass along the lines, allowing for the documentation of movement patterns. The receivers also allow for the estimation of parameters such as swimming speed and mortality. The trackers sit on the seabed of the continental shelf and in the major rivers of the world. This method can be used to improve fishing skills and management. The program started in 2002 and was initially limited to the study of the movement and ocean-survival of both hatchery-raised and wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest. After the successful pilot period, the program ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Census Of Marine Life On Seamounts
Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts (commonly CenSeam) is a global scientific initiative, launched in 2005, that is designed to expand the knowledge base of marine life at seamounts. Seamounts are underwater mountains, not necessarily volcanic in origin, which often form subsurface archipelagoes and are found throughout the world's ocean basins, with almost half in the Pacific. There are estimated to be as many as 100,000 seamounts at least one kilometer in height, and more if lower rises are included. However, they have not been explored very much—in fact, only about half of one percent have been sampled—and almost every expedition to a seamount discovers new species and new information. There is evidence that seamounts can host concentrations of biologic diversity, each with its own unique local ecosystem; they seem to affect oceanic currents, resulting among other things in local concentration of plankton which in turn attracts species that graze on it, and inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Census Of Diversity Of Abyssal Marine Life
The Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar) is a field project of the Census of Marine Life that studies the species diversity of one of the largest and most inaccessible environments on the planet, the abyssal plain An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, usually found at depths between and . Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface. T .... CeDAMar uses data to create an estimation of global species diversity and provide a better understanding of the history of deep-sea fauna, including its present diversity and dependence on environmental parameters. CeDAMar initiatives aim to identify centers of high biodiversity useful for planning both commercial and conservation efforts, and are able to be used in future studies on the effects of climate change on the deep sea. As of May 2009, participation by upwards of 56 institutions in 17 countri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography Of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems
The Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems is a field project of the Census of Marine Life programme (CoML). The main aim of ChEss is to determine the biogeography of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems at a global scale and to understand the processes driving these ecosystems. ChEss addresses the main questions of CoML on diversity, abundance and distribution of marine species, focusing on deep-water reducing environments such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls, sunken wood and areas of low oxygen that intersect with continental margins and seamounts. Background Deep-sea hydrothermal vents and their associated fauna were first discovered along the Galapagos Rift in the eastern Pacific in 1977. Vents are now known to occur along all active mid ocean ridges and back-arc spreading centres, from fast to ultra-slow spreading ridges. The interest in chemosynthetic environments was strengthened by the discovery of chemosynthetic-based fauna at cold see ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
