Marine biodiversity: from the sea to the cloud

• Grant number: 18/08999-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: August 03, 2018
• End date: August 09, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Carlos Marques
• Grantee: Antonio Carlos Marques
• Visiting researcher: J. Emmett Duffy
• Visiting researcher institution: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, United States
• Host Institution: Centro de Biologia Marinha (CEBIMAR). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Sebastião , SP, Brazil

Abstract

MarineGEO is a global partnership, led by the Smithsonian Institution, working to understand how coastal marine ecosystems work and how to keep them working. We focus on biodiversity because it is the heart of functioning ecosystems, and on nearshore coastal habitats where biodiversity and people are concentrated and interact most. MarineGEO integrates biodiversity assessments, coordinated experiments, historical ecology, and sustained time series observations to understand how coastal ecosystems function. It thus complements other ocean observing efforts, which focus primarily on physical and chemical processes in the open ocean. MarineGEO is built around a shared set of experiments and time-series measurements, standardized and networked across sites, coordinated by the Smithsonian Institution's Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network (TMON). Protocols are designed to be compatible with existing best practices and to coordinate with, rather than duplicate, other programs with common goals. Overarching research questions include: How is biodiversity changing in response to natural and human influences? How does biodiversity influence ecosystem processes and provide resilience against stressors? And how can human activities be designed to protect and restore resilient marine ecosystems? MarineGEO research is organized around major biogenic seabed habitats, primarily emergent and submersed vegetation, and hard bottoms (reefs, rocky shores). MarineGEO's primary area of operations is along the coasts of the Americas, and we have been partnering with MBON and GEO-BON for several years, along with collaborators in the Pole-to-Pole MBON and AmeriGEOSS programs. MarineGEO is actively building its data system and beginning the process of integrating with OBIS. Therefore the Pole-to-Pole MBON workshop is of great interest and will be a key opportunity to build and integrate our respective networks to mutual benefit. In order to get that, we apply for money to bring Emmett Duffy, from the Smithsonian Institution, to participate in the meeting organized by the MBON Pole to Pole Project. (AU)