[Paddlewise] FW: [IAMSLIC:1790] Ocean Biogeographic Information System

Subject: FW: [IAMSLIC:1790] Ocean Biogeographic Information System


I am forwarding this message from the marine science libraries listserv -
thought you might find this of interest as well.  For the critter-lovering,
technologically minded paddlers among us.

Natalie Wiest
Galveston TX  (Texas A&M University at Galveston)

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iamslic_at_ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-iamslic_at_ucdavis.edu]On
Behalf Of Peter Brueggeman
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 5:53 PM
To: IAMSLIC
Subject: [IAMSLIC:1790] Ocean Biogeographic Information System


http://www.iobis.org/

The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) is a user-friendly,
web-based
provider of global geo-referenced information on accurately identified
marine
species. OBIS is developing powerful new on-line tools for visualizing
relationships among species and their environment.  OBIS will assess and
integrate biological, physical, and chemical oceanographic data from
multiple
sources, generate testable hypotheses about the origins and maintenance of
marine biodiversity, and facilitate research on the roles of of species in
ecosystem function.  Users of OBIS, including researchers, students, and
environmental managers, will gain a dynamic view of the multi-dimensional
oceanic world.  New synoptic datasets from environmental sensing
technologies
and new techniques for identifying and describing marine species are likely
to
result in a quantum increase in knowledge about the distribution and
abundance
of life in the oceans over the next ten years.   The opportunity for new
scientific breakthroughs, and heightened concern about the health and
persistence of life in the oceans, are the stimulus for the Census of Marine
Life (CoML), an international research program to assess and explain the
diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine organisms throughout the
world's oceans. OBIS is a major component of CoML, as is the History of
Marine
Animal Populations (HMAP), whose mission is to gather, restore, and analyze
historical marine population data from the past 500 years, before human
 impacts on the ocean became significant. OBIS and HMAP provide the temporal
context, charting fluctuations of species' distributions past and present.
This
context is necessary for the third major element of CoML, the Future of
Marine
Animal Populations (FMAP), which provides a basis for modeling and
prediction of
future oceanic communities.  CoML will benefit from related programs such as
the
Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), which will be providing continuous
streams
of observations to challenge existing capabilities for data access,
analysis,
and presentation. OBIS will play a role in making component biological data
accessible and interpretable to a variety of end-users including maritime
industries, environmental managers, scientists, teachers, and the general
public.

=============================================================
Peter Brueggeman, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library
UCSD, 9500 Gilman Dr, Dept 0219, San Diego CA 92093-0219 USA
pbrueggeman_at_ucsd.edu  Tel 858/534-1230  Fax 858/534-5269

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************