Pacific Region RCSD Projects & Activities (PAWS) Worksheet
Form used for a entering PAWS into Piko (Worsheet Version April 27 2012)
Acronym
Name/Title
Monitoring Marine Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands
Capability Area: Understanding Climate Variability and Change
Understanding Climate Variability and Change
Observing Systems, Data Stewardship, Data Services
Operational Products and Services
Research/Development
Historical Observations (hindcasts/climatologies)
Projections (modeling and downscaling)
Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach
Best Practices/Guidance
Decision Support Tools
Essential Climate Variable/Parameter
Atmospheric:
Surface (e.g., temp, precip, wind)
Upper-Air
Composition
Oceanic:
Surface (e.g., SST, SSH, salinity, ocean color)
Sub-surface (e.g., temp, salinity, nutrients, carbon, phytoplankton)
Terrestrial:
(e.g., surface water, glaciers and ice caps, land cover, biomass)
Time Frame
Seasonal (outlook)
Intra-annual to Decadal
Multi-decadal (scenarios)
Capability Area: Understanding Climate Impacts and Informing Adaptation
Understanding Climate Impacts and Informing Adaptation
Climate Impacts
Observing Systems, Data Stewardship, Data Services
Research/Development
Historical Observations (hindcasts/climatologies)
Projections (modeling and downscaling)
Climate Adaptation
Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach
Best Practices/Guidance
Decision Support Tools
Policies and Legislation
Assessment and Evaluation
Sector
Public Health and Safety
Fresh Water Resources
Energy
Transportation/Communication and Commerce
Community Planning and Development
Social and Cultural Resources
Agriculture and Fisheries
Recreation and Tourism
Ecosystems
Other
Status
Completed
Ongoing
Planned
Proposed
Focus Area
Fresh Water Resources and Drought
Coastal Inundation/Sea Level Rise, Extreme Weather, and Community Resilience
Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems
Region/Locale
Central North Pacific
State of Hawaii
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Pacific Remote Islands
Western North Pacific
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
Guam
Republic of Palau
Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI)
Other Western North Pacific
South Pacific
American Samoa
Australia
Cook Islands
Fiji
French Polynesia
Kiribati
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Other South Pacific
Pacific Basin
Global
Description
Changes in biodiversity and the impacts to marine calcifiers are biological responses to climatic trends in the Pacific. An established systematic and standardize tool currently used to monitor biodiversity in the Pacific is the Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure (ARMS). ARMS were developed by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) as part of the Census of Marine Life’s Census of Coral Reefs project. ARMS are a long-term collecting device designed to mimic the structural complexity of a coral reef and attract colonizing invertebrates. Through taxonomic identification and mass sequencing technologies they provide a consistent and comparable method to measure and monitor the biodiversity of these understudied organisms over time. They enhance ecosystem-based management and increase the ability to monitor and predict ecological impacts in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors. In conjunction with measured climatic variables such as temperature and salinity, ARMS could help advance our understanding of the relationship between climate variables and biodiversity. Currently, over 500 ARMS units are placed strategically throughout the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans with the majority at sites in the Pacific. To help facilitate the data produced from each ARMS unit, an ARMSbase web-enabled biodiversity information system has been proposed. The ARMSbase would house all information related to the ARMS which would include all metadata related to deployment, retrieval, and processing as well as the raw taxonomic and molecular sequence information. This information can then be applied and related to physical climate variables collected across the Pacific to investigate the relationships between biodiversity and Pacific climate trends.
Objectives/Outcomes
1) Construct ARMSbase web-enabled biodiversity information system; 2) Advance our understanding of biodiversity changes in relationship to climate variables.
Lead Agencies, Institutions and Organizations
NOAA/PIFSC/CRED, JIMAR
Contacts(names, emails)
Annette DesRochers, Annette.DesRochers@noaa.gov Russell Brainard, Rusty.Brainard@noaa.gov
Partnering Agencies, Institutions, and Organizations
1) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Australian Institute of Marine Science, and NOAA/PIFSC/Coral Reef Ecosystem Division will provide input to and feedback on the ARMSbase data model. Biological data models used for similar projects can also be provided; 2) NOAA/PIFSC/Coral Reef Ecosystem Division will provide standardized ARMS units for field studies by partners and also will provide deployment and recovery support for ARMS sites in the U.S. Pacific; 3) Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology will provide use of their molecular laboratory facilities.
Required Resources
Financial or in-kind support for database development specialist and administrator. Financial or in-kind support for web hosting services. Support for a post doctoral researcher (environmental information systems, data modeler, marine biodiversity, or marine invertebrates).
Projected Timelines
1-2 years
Feedback Mechanisms and Evaluation Measures
Availability of raw, in-process, and summarized data products from ARMS deployed in the Pacific and beyond.
Url
http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/arms.php
Worksheet
PnA_MMBPI.doc
Keywords
Understanding Climate Variability and Change Observing Systems, Data Stewardship, Data Services Research/Development Sub-surface (e.g., temp, salinity, nutrients, carbon, phytoplankton) Proposed Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems State of Hawaii Central North Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Western North Pacific Guam Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) Republic of Palau American Samoa South Pacific