Data Requirements for Biodiversity Indicators Carlo Heip Centre for Estuarine and Marine EcologyNetherlands Institute of EcologyGhent University, BelgiumState University of Groningen, The Netherlands

c.heip@nioo.knaw.nl

Biodiversity: what is it?The variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.The totality of genes, species and ecosystems in a region.Biological variation

Why marine biodiversity mattersSpecies are disappearing at a rate never observed since life began on earth. The extinction crisis ranks with global climate change as the greatest threat to the integrity of the biosphere in the 21st centurySpecies extinction is not just an aesthetic or moral problem. Marine organisms play a crucial role in almost all biogeochemical processes that sustain the biosphere, and provide a variety of products (goods) and functions (services) which are essential to mankinds well-being

The rate and efficiency of any of the processes that marine organisms mediate, as well as the range of goods and services that they provide, are determined by interactions, between organisms, and between organisms and their environment, and therefore by biodiversity. These relationships have not yet been quantified, and we are at present unable to predict the consequences of loss of biodiversity resulting from environmental change in ecological, economic or social terms.

Marine Biodiversity: what are the threats?

Overexploitation of resourcesPhysical alteration of the coastlinePollution and eutrophicationIntroduction of exotic speciesGlobal climate change

What is at stake?Marine resources (goods)Genetic resourcesExample: Pompei wormSpeciesFisheries, aquaculture: 100 MT of foodHabitatTourismFunctioning of marine ecosystems (services)Relationship between species and biogeochemical processes

A better understanding of marine biodiversity requiresKnowledge of existing biodiversity: inventoriesUnderstanding of how biodiversity changes in space and through time, both now and in the past Ergo: surveys and monitoringInterpreting these changes in terms of a theoryExperiments and modelling

Genes and Genomics

The Environmental Genomics Thematic Programme

Funded by the NERC at 16.5mAimed at understanding the molecular basis of evolutionary change, organismal phenotype, and ecosystem functionEvolutionary and Ecological theory plus Genomic technologiesRound 1 (17) funded in Sept, 2001, Round 2 to be funded in April 2003Data Centre to be Launched October 2002 for a period of 5 years

Dawn Field

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS For a targeted range of environments and field sites, environmental genomics can address: Which genes are turned on, and what do they do? Is there intraspecific variation in gene expression in response to environmental change, and is this variation adaptive? What are the ecosystem-, community-, and population-level consequences of the molecular transformations performed by these genes? Which taxa are involved? What happens if the system is experimentally perturbed

NSF Press Release November 2001Scientists funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated from the University of Delaware and Amersham Biosciences, Inc., in Piscataway, New Jersey, have succeeded in conducting the first-ever DNA sequencing experiments at sea. Using the research vessel Atlantis and submersible Alvin, the team carried out a pioneering environmental genomic study of the strange life that inhabits super-hot hydrothermal vents almost two miles deep in the Pacific Ocean

Pompei worm (Alvinella pompejana)

Genome Science and BioinformaticsOne of the core activities in genomics is to establish integrated Web-based databases and research interfaces. Bioinformatics deals with the computational management of all kinds of biological information. It develops the mathematical tools required for analysing and processing the information in those databases At some stage as the data obtained in genomics research will be linked to information on species, including geographical and environmental information and using methods developed in bioinformatics

Inventorying and Monitoring of Species DiversityThe rational use and conservation of marine biodiversity requires programmes of inventorying and monitoring that allow understanding the past and present states of biodiversity and the causes of its change. Inventories establish a baseline distribution of biodiversity for a particular place at a particular time. Monitoring addresses the issue of change or lack of change of biodiversity through time at particular places. Ideally, modelling should allow for predicting future states of biodiversity

Why surveys and monitoring are required.

Inventories and monitoring serve to set the baseline against which changes can be evaluated.Monitoring is the only way to keep track of the state of the system, which is necessary becauseMuch change is triggered by random events.Accidents will happen. Monitoring is required to evaluate effects of policy measures. Time series data become more valuable when they are longer. Much variation is in the longer time periodsValidation and calibration of ecological models can only be done on the basis of real data. The longer the time series the better the models perform.

Inventorying and Monitoring: How?The goal of an inventorying and monitoring program of biodiversity is to document patterns of change in order to understand the impact of natural or anthropogenic disturbance on species composition and abundance in communities and ecosystems. An inventory establishes a baseline for the distribution of biodiversity at a particular place and a particular time.Monitoring addresses the issue of change or lack of change of biodiversity through time at particular places, against the baseline

Setting up a baseline by a network of sitesA network of sites can survey and monitor biodiversity in space and in time simultaneouslyAn ideal network of sites would cover a selection of critical ecosystems and cover:Areas with marginal or undetectable impact versus (heavily) impacted areasTransition zones between biogeographical regions and sites which are aligned along gradients such as longitude, latitude, salinity Sites which have been intensively studied and have well established species lists, coupled with meteorological and ecological data sets.

European Marine Biodiversity Research SitesReference sitesNon-impactedATBIFocal sitesImpactedLTBR

European Marine Biodiversity ResearchSitesWP1: Candidate Reference and Focal sites:- ATBI (red dots)- other sites (blue dots)148 research sites, of which 38 are reference sites

Habitat diversity as measured by remote sensing, acoustic or imaging methods

All Taxon Biodiversity InventoryDiversity indices e.g. Hill or Renyi numbers (Species richness, Shannon-Wiener etc) of selected taxonomic groupsTaxonomic distinctnessBenthic community analysisDiversity of ecosystem engineersInvading Species

Population structureGenetic diversity

Direct indicators of Biodiversity at Different levels Within a research site

Within a habitat or community

Within a population

Existing DataTaxonomic collections: information on taxa with or without geographical information or reference to authorsLocal and Regional Faunas and Floras: lists with geographical referencesBiogeographical researchPaleo-ecologyEnvironmental research and Monitoring Fisheries and aquaculture dataEcological research: quantitative and qualitativeProxies

ProblemsNo systematic collectionNo reference to sitesNo standardization in collecting methodsNo quality controlNot electronically available

Requirements for new dataA standard minimum set and sampling methodology of environmental variablesSpace (geographical location) and TimeTemperature, light, nutrients (salinity) regimeSubstrate for benthic populations, water column structure for pelagic populations.Standard methodologies for biodiversity measurementElectronically available on the Web using adequate data-base structureApplication and Development of Bioinformatics (data mining software, .)

Socio-economics and Indicators

Key features of indicators

The Pressure-State-Response model Statistical Office of the European Commission (EUROSTAT).

The Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response model

DNA sequencesSpecies abundancesBenthic mappingRemote SensingLong term (10+)Ph.D. term (3-4)Short term (

Can we do it?Need for handling massive data of very different nature, origin, quality, Bioinformatics: a quantum jump in the level of expertise and sophistication requiredBest start with a number of Pilot projectsNetworking within Europe (6th framework programme) and globally (Census of Marine Life)

ESF Research Objectives

To characterise marine biodiversity at a range of biological, spatial and temporal scales.To quantify the role of marine biodiversity in providing goods and services in both relatively natural and more human-impacted environments.To determine the probable effects of natural and man-made changes in biodiversity on ecosystem goods and services.To provide a scientific rationale and tools for the proper management of living resources in European seas.

MARBEF EoI Research Objectives1. Exploring marine biodiversity in Europe.2. Determining the relationship between ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.3. Exploring the relationship between species and the stability of ecosystems, including functional groups and the role of rare species 4. What determines the success or failure of invasive species.5. What are the large-scale gradients in species richness and how do they change in time.6. What is the relationship between ecosystem functioning and the sustainable use of marine biodiversity across Europe and globally.

The Census of Marine Life

Program Overview 12 September 2002Ron ODor

Thank you for your attention

BioinformaticsBioinformatics is the study of the inherent structure of biological information and biological systems. It brings together the avalanche of systematic biological data (e.g. genomes, but going on to ecosystems) with the analytic theory and practical tools of mathematics and computer science

First, the data produced by the thousands of research teams all over the world are collected and organized in databases specialized for particular subjects. Well-known examples are: GDB , SWISS-PROT , GenBank , and PDB. The latter - for example - deals with three-dimensional structures of biological molecules.

In the next step, computational tools are needed to analyse the collected data in the most efficient manner. For example, many bioinformaticists are working on the prediction of the biological functions of genes and proteins (or parts of them) based on structural data

Bioinformatics is a newly emerging interdisciplinary research area which may be defined as the interface between biological and computational sciences. Although the term 'Bioinformatics' is not really well-defined, you could say that this scientific field deals with the computational management of all kinds of biological information, whether it may be about genes and their products, whole organisms or even ecological systems.

Species diversityIts structure: life has originated in the sea and is much older in the sea than on land. As a consequence, the diversity of higher taxonomic levels is much greater in the sea where there are 14 endemic (unique) animal phyla whereas only 1 phylum is endemic to landIts function: Marine organisms play crucial roles in many biogeochemical processes that sustain the biosphere, and provide a variety of products (goods) and functions (services) which are essential to mankinds well-being, including the production of food and natural substances, the assimilation of waste and regulation of the worlds climate