Patterns of Macrofaunal Biodiversity Across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: An Area Targeted for Seabed Mining

Macrofauna are an abundant and diverse component of abyssal benthic communities and are likely to be heavily impacted by polymetallic nodule mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). In 2012, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) used available benthic biodiversity data and environmental proxies to establish nine no-mining areas, called Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIs) in the CCZ. The APEIs were intended as a representative system of protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem function across the region from mining impacts. Since 2012, a number of research programs have collected additional ecological baseline data from the CCZ. We assemble and analyze macrofaunal biodiversity data sets from eight studies, focusing on three dominant taxa (Polychaeta, Tanaidacea, and Isopoda), and encompassing 477 box-core samples to address the following questions: (1) How do macrofaunal abundance, biodiversity, and community structure vary across the CCZ, and what are the potential ecological drivers? (2) How representative are APEIs of the nearest contractor areas? (3) How broadly do macrofaunal species range across the CCZ region? and (4) What scientific gaps hinder our understanding of macrofaunal biodiversity and biogeography in the CCZ? Our analyses led us to hypothesize that sampling efficiencies vary across macrofaunal data sets from the CCZ, making quantitative comparisons between studies challenging. Nonetheless, we found that macrofaunal abundance and diversity varied substantially across the CCZ, likely due in part to variations in particulate organic carbon (POC) flux and nodule abundance. Most macrofaunal species were collected only as singletons or doubletons, with additional species still accumulating rapidly at all sites, and with most collected species appearing to be new to science. Thus, macrofaunal diversity remains poorly sampled and described across the CCZ, especially within APEIs, where a total of nine box cores have been taken across three APEIs. Some common macrofaunal species ranged over 600–3000 km, while other locally abundant species were collected across ≤ 200 km. The vast majority of macrofaunal species are rare, have been collected only at single sites, and may have restricted ranges. Major impediments to understanding baseline conditions of macrofaunal biodiversity across the CCZ include: (1) limited taxonomic description and/or barcoding of the diverse macrofauna, (2) inadequate sampling in most of the CCZ, especially within APEIs, and (3) lack of consistent sampling protocols and efficiencies.

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Benthic Microbial Diversity and Connectivity in Potential Polymetallic Nodule Mining Areas

10.7185/gold2021.6946 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Batuhan Yapan ◽

Julia Otte ◽

Massimiliano Molari ◽

Felix Janssen ◽

Frank Wenzhöfer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Diversity ◽

Mining Areas ◽

Polymetallic Nodule ◽

Nodule Mining

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Kurator: Tools for Improving Fitness for Use of Biodiversity Data.

Biodiversity Information Science and Standards ◽

10.3897/biss.2.26539 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. e26539 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul J. Morris ◽

James Hanken ◽

David Lowery ◽

Bertram Ludäscher ◽

James Macklin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Quality ◽

Early Stage ◽

Data Capture ◽

Data Sets ◽

Biodiversity Data ◽

Skill Levels ◽

Use Of Data ◽

Data Life Cycle ◽

Wide Range ◽

Original Observation

As curators of biodiversity data in natural science collections, we are deeply concerned with data quality, but quality is an elusive concept. An effective way to think about data quality is in terms of fitness for use (Veiga 2016). To use data to manage physical collections, the data must be able to accurately answer questions such as what objects are in the collections, where are they and where are they from. Some research uses aggregate data across collections, which involves exchange of data using standard vocabularies. Some research uses require accurate georeferences, collecting dates, and current identifications. It is well understood that the costs of data capture and data quality improvement increase with increasing time from the original observation. These factors point towards two engineering principles for software that is intended to maintain or enhance data quality: build small modular data quality tests that can be easily assembled in suites to assess the fitness of use of data for some particular need; and produce tools that can be applied by users with a wide range of technical skill levels at different points in the data life cycle. In the Kurator project, we have produced code (e.g. Wieczorek et al. 2017, Morris 2016) which consists of small modules that can be incorporated into data management processes as small libraries that address particular data quality tests. These modules can be combined into customizable data quality scripts, which can be run on single computers or scalable architecture and can be incorporated into other software, run as command line programs, or run as suites of canned workflows through a web interface. Kurator modules can be integrated into early stage data capture applications, run to help prepare data for aggregation by matching it to standard vocabularies, be run for quality control or quality assurance on data sets, and can report on data quality in terms of a fitness-for-use framework (Veiga et al. 2017). One of our goals is simple tests usable by anyone anywhere.

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Extracting Data from Legacy Taxonomic Literature: Applications for planning field work

Biodiversity Information Science and Standards ◽

10.3897/biss.3.37082 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Andres Rivera-Quiroz ◽

Jeremy Miller

Keyword(s):

Data Extraction ◽

Field Work ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Extraction Process ◽

Biological Data ◽

Knowledge Generation ◽

Data Repository ◽

Full Potential ◽

Biodiversity Data ◽

Open Access Journals

Traditional taxonomic publications have served as a biological data repository accumulating vast amounts of data on species diversity, geographical and temporal distributions, ecological interactions, taxonomic relations, among many other types of information. However, the fragmented nature of taxonomic literature has made this data difficult to access and use to its full potential. Current anthropogenic impact on biodiversity demands faster knowledge generation, but also making better use of what we already have. This could help us make better-informed decisions about conservation and resources management. In past years, several efforts have been made to make taxonomic literature more mobilized and accessible. These include online publications, open access journals, the digitization of old paper literature and improved availability through online specialized repositories such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and the World Spider Catalog (WSC), among others. Although easy to share, PDF publications still have most of their biodiversity data embedded in strings of text making them less dynamic and more difficult or impossible to read and analyze without a human interpreter. Recently developed tools as GoldenGATE-Imagine (GGI) allow transforming PDFs in XML files that extract and categorize taxonomically relevant data. These data can then be aggregated in databases such as Plazi TreatmentBank, where it can be re-explored, queried and analyzed. Here we combined several of these cybertaxonomic tools to test the data extraction process for one potential application: the design and planning of an expedition to collect fresh material in the field. We targeted the ground spider Teutamus politus and other related species from the Teutamus group (TG) (Araneae; Liocranidae). These spiders are known from South East Asia and have been cataloged in the family Liocranidae; however, their relations, biology and evolution are still poorly understood. We marked-up 56 publications that contained taxonomic treatments with specimen records for the Liocranidae. Of these publications, 20 contained information on members of the TG. Geographical distributions and occurrences of 90 TG species were analyzed based on 1,309 specimen records. These data were used to design our field collection in a way that allowed us to optimize the collection of adult specimens of our target taxa. The TG genera were most common in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. From these, Thailand was the second richest but had the most records of T. politus. Seasonal distribution of TG specimens in Thailand suggested June and July as the best time for collecting adults. Based on these analyses, we decided to sample from mid-July to mid-August 2018 in the three Thai provinces that combined most records of TG species and T. politus. Relying on the results of our literature analyses and using standard collection methods for ground spiders, we captured at least one specimen of every TG genus reported for Thailand. Our one-month expedition captured 231 TG spiders; from these, T. politus was the most abundant species with 188 specimens (95 adults). By comparison, a total of 196 specimens of the TG and 66 of T. politus had been reported for the same provinces in the last 40 years. Our sampling greatly increased the number of available specimens, especially for the genera Teutamus and Oedignatha. Also, we extended the known distribution of Oedignatha and Sesieutes within Thailand. These results illustrate the relevance of making biodiversity data contained within taxonomic treatments accessible and reusable. It also exemplifies one potential use of taxonomic legacy data: to more efficiently use existing biodiversity data to fill knowledge gaps. A similar approach can be used to study neglected or interesting taxa and geographic areas, generating a better biodiversity documentation that could aid in decision making, management and conservation.

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Three Frontiers for the Future of Biodiversity Research Using Citizen Science Data

BioScience ◽

10.1093/biosci/biaa131 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Corey T Callaghan ◽

Alistair G B Poore ◽

Thomas Mesaglio ◽

Angela T Moles ◽

Shinichi Nakagawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Citizen Science ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Science Research ◽

Single Species ◽

Data Sets ◽

Biodiversity Data ◽

Science Data ◽

Biodiversity Research ◽

Research Areas ◽

The Future

Abstract Citizen science is fundamentally shifting the future of biodiversity research. But although citizen science observations are contributing an increasingly large proportion of biodiversity data, they only feature in a relatively small percentage of research papers on biodiversity. We provide our perspective on three frontiers of citizen science research, areas that we feel to date have had minimal scientific exploration but that we believe deserve greater attention as they present substantial opportunities for the future of biodiversity research: sampling the undersampled, capitalizing on citizen science's unique ability to sample poorly sampled taxa and regions of the world, reducing taxonomic and spatial biases in global biodiversity data sets; estimating abundance and density in space and time, develop techniques to derive taxon-specific densities from presence or absence and presence-only data; and capitalizing on secondary data collection, moving beyond data on the occurrence of single species and gain further understanding of ecological interactions among species or habitats. The contribution of citizen science to understanding the important biodiversity questions of our time should be more fully realized.

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Distribution and relative abundance of the economically important click beetles (Elateridae: Agriotes sp.) in Hungary

Acta Agraria Debreceniensis ◽

10.34101/actaagrar/39/2738 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 53-60

Author(s):

Antal Nagy ◽

István Dávid ◽

István Szarukán

Keyword(s):

Relative Abundance ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Common Species ◽

Pheromone Traps ◽

Additional Species ◽

Click Beetles ◽

Click Beetle ◽

Significant Damage

Click beetle (Elateridae: Agriotes sp.) species of 24 sites in different regions of Hungary were studied in 2010. A. brevis, A. sputator, A. obscurus, A. lineatus, A. rufipalpis and A. ustulatus were sampled by pheromone traps in maize fields. During the study more than 80000 beetles were caught. The three most common species were A. ustulatus, A. sputator and A. rufipalpis. The distribution of the studied species was uneven. In south Hungary A. ustulatus, A, rufipalpis and A. sputator were the three most abundant species. In the Transdanubia A. sputator was the most abundant. A. ustulatus reached higher abundance in only three sites (3/12). A. obscurus occurred only in west Hungary (Transdanubia). In eastern Hungary the abundance of studied species was higher. In this reason we have to monitor the populations of these pests and if it is necessary we have to take actions against them. In Transdanubia the abundance were generally lower but in many cases reached the threshold of significant damage. Beyond that 13 additional species were sampled so the total number of sampled species was 19.

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An inventory of biodiversity data sources for conservation monitoring

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242923 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0242923

Author(s):

P. J. Stephenson ◽

Carrie Stengel

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Data Availability ◽

Data Sources ◽

Data Sets ◽

Biodiversity Data ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The People ◽

Science Community ◽

Global Data

Many conservation managers, policy makers, businesses and local communities cannot access the biodiversity data they need for informed decision-making on natural resource management. A handful of databases are used to monitor indicators against global biodiversity goals but there is no openly available consolidated list of global data sets to help managers, especially those in high-biodiversity countries. We therefore conducted an inventory of global databases of potential use in monitoring biodiversity states, pressures and conservation responses at multiple levels. We uncovered 145 global data sources, as well as a selection of global data reports, links to which we will make available on an open-access website. We describe trends in data availability and actions needed to improve data sharing. If the conservation and science community made a greater effort to publicise data sources, and make the data openly and freely available for the people who most need it, we might be able to mainstream biodiversity data into decision-making and help stop biodiversity loss.

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Slope ranking and geohazards correlation analysis for combined open-underground mining area

10.7287/peerj.preprints.27070v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Zhang Jin

Keyword(s):

Correlation Analysis ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Underground Mining ◽

Mining Area ◽

Open Pit ◽

Ground Subsidence ◽

Data Sets ◽

Mining Areas ◽

Factor Data

Geohazards in mining areas are mainly ground subsidence, slope landslides and ground cracks, surface cover degradation and environmental ecological pattern destruction. The classification and rank of terrain slope and the feature area extraction of the slope are the important content for the correlation analysis with the geohazards. The slope classification and rank index system for soil and water conservation, land use and man-made ground disasters was analyzed. According to the characteristics of open pit and underground associated mining area, we comprehensively analyzed the spatial correlation between different ground disaster and terrain features and landform types, and propose a new slope ranking index, dividing slope zones and forming slope classification map. Especially slope area of 35-45 degrees and more than 45 degrees was extracted, and the relationship between regional geohazards and slope zone was analyzed. The application of terrestrial laser scanning technology to establish open-pit high precision digital elevation model, extraction of slope, slope type, gully density characteristic factor, topography factor data sets are established, and correlation analysis, to enhance disaster information content.

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Geospatial data sharing, online spatial analysis and processing of Indian Biodiversity data in Internet GIS domain – A case study for raster based online geo-processing

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

10.5194/isprsarchives-xl-8-1133-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol XL-8 ◽

pp. 1133-1137 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

H. Karnatak ◽

K. Pandey ◽

K. Oberai ◽

A. Roy ◽

D. Joshi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Analysis ◽

Geospatial Data ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Data Sets ◽

Vector Data ◽

Biodiversity Data ◽

Raster Data ◽

Area Of Interest ◽

Field Samples ◽

Biological Richness

National Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape Level, a project jointly sponsored by Department of Biotechnology and Department of Space, was implemented to identify and map the potential biodiversity rich areas in India. This project has generated spatial information at three levels viz. Satellite based primary information (Vegetation Type map, spatial locations of road & village, Fire occurrence); geospatially derived or modelled information (Disturbance Index, Fragmentation, Biological Richness) and geospatially referenced field samples plots. The study provides information of high disturbance and high biological richness areas suggesting future management strategies and formulating action plans. The study has generated for the first time baseline database in India which will be a valuable input towards climate change study in the Indian Subcontinent. <br><br> The spatial data generated during the study is organized as central data repository in Geo-RDBMS environment using PostgreSQL and POSTGIS. The raster and vector data is published as OGC WMS and WFS standard for development of web base geoinformation system using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The WMS and WFS based system allows geo-visualization, online query and map outputs generation based on user request and response. This is a typical mashup architecture based geo-information system which allows access to remote web services like ISRO Bhuvan, Openstreet map, Google map etc., with overlay on Biodiversity data for effective study on Bio-resources. <br><br> The spatial queries and analysis with vector data is achieved through SQL queries on POSTGIS and WFS-T operations. But the most important challenge is to develop a system for online raster based geo-spatial analysis and processing based on user defined Area of Interest (AOI) for large raster data sets. The map data of this study contains approximately 20 GB of size for each data layer which are five in number. An attempt has been to develop system using python, PostGIS and PHP for raster data analysis over the web for Biodiversity conservation and prioritization. The developed system takes inputs from users as WKT, Openlayer based Polygon geometry and Shape file upload as AOI to perform raster based operation using Python and GDAL/OGR. The intermediate products are stored in temporary files and tables which generate XML outputs for web representation. The raster operations like clip-zip-ship, class wise area statistics, single to multi-layer operations, diagrammatic representation and other geo-statistical analysis are performed. This is indigenous geospatial data processing engine developed using Open system architecture for spatial analysis of Biodiversity data sets in Internet GIS environment. The performance of this applications in multi-user environment like Internet domain is another challenging task which is addressed by fine tuning the source code, server hardening, spatial indexing and running the process in load balance mode. The developed system is hosted in Internet domain (<a href="http://http://bis.iirs.gov.in" target="_blank">http://bis.iirs.gov.in</a>) for user access.

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Space-time evolution of a large field of pockmarks in the Bay of Concarneau (NW Brittany)

BSGF - Earth Sciences Bulletin ◽

10.1051/bsgf/2017191 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 188 (4) ◽

pp. 23 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Agnès Baltzer ◽

Marine Reynaud ◽

Axel Ehrhold ◽

Jérôme Fournier ◽

Céline Cordier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Benthic Communities ◽

Large Field ◽

Data Sets ◽

Seismic Profiles ◽

Short Term ◽

Tidal Cycles ◽

Acoustic Turbidity ◽

Pockmark Field ◽

High Level ◽

Space Time Evolution

About a decade ago, a large field of pockmarks, covering an overall area of 36 km2 was discovered in water depths of < 30 m in the central part of the Bay of Concarneau (Southern Brittany, France). This field, composed of features from 5 m to 35 m in diameter and < 1 m in depth, is characterized by unusual high densities of pockmarks, up to 5840 per square kilometre. Geophysical data correlated with sedimentary samples acquired in 2005 and 2009 show that pockmarks and their immediate surroundings are associated with dense tubes benches cover, built by a filter-feeding amphipod: Haploops nirae, forming original benthic communities. Two complementary surveys were carried out in April 2011 (Pock and Ploops) and April 2014 (Pock and Tide), on the Oceanographic Vedette (O/V) Haliotis (Ifremer/Genavir), to map the limit of the pockmarks and Haploops fields with the maximum accuracy. The link between the presence of the Haploops nirae communities and the occurrence of pockmarks /gas was then established and the proposed hypothesis was that tidal cycles may provide a good candidate for a short-term (monthly) triggering mechanism of fluid expulsion (Baltzer A, Ehrhold A, Rigolet C, Souron A, Cordier C, Clouet H. 2014. Geophysical exploration of an active pockmark field in the Bay of Concarneau, southern Brittany, and implications for resident suspension feeders. Geo-Marine Letters, 34, 215–230). Due to the high-level precision (50 cm) of the positioning system (Magellan Aquarius Ixsea Hydrins) coupled with the RTK attitude system, these new bathymetric and imagery maps together with the sub-bottom Chirp profiles, allow us to compare the data sets from April 2011 and April 2014. The superimposition of the two data sets shows that the distribution of the pockmarks remains similar between these 2 dates (i.e. for 3 years), for the group of large, widely scattered pockmarks, which are deeply rooted in the Holocene palaeo-valley infills and for the group of pockmarks identified as the trawl-scour pockmarks, initiated by trawling action. Most of the pockmarks present very recent shapes without any infilling but sonar imagery reveals that some of them have been covered by a thin muddy layer, thereby reflecting, at least, a temporary cessation of expulsion or a different activity. Chirp profiles indicate some acoustic flares above the pockmarks, revealing gas/fluid expulsion. Different gas clues within the sedimentary column, such as acoustic turbidity, enhanced gas reflectors (EGR), chimneys pipes, occur at exactly the same places on the chirp seismic profiles from 2011 and 2014. Therefore, contrary to most examples described in the literature, this pockmarks field is still active.

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Innovative Approaches to Seedbank Studies

Weed Science ◽

10.1017/s0043174500058276 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 660-669 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Diane L. Benoit ◽

Douglas A. Derksen ◽

Bernard Panneton

Keyword(s):

Multivariate Analysis ◽

Abundant Species ◽

Organic Soils ◽

Seed Density ◽

Large Species ◽

Weed Species ◽

Common Lambsquarters ◽

Sampling Protocols ◽

Original Size ◽

Total Seed

Seedbank studies often suffer from major methodological inadequacies such as absence of appropriate statistical data analysis and low sampling intensity. Multivariate analysis and computer mapping are innovative ways to treat seedbank data. Computer contour mapping was used to visualize spatial patterns of a population of common lambsquarters at three intervals during a growing season. At one site, high spring seed density of 600 000 seed m-2 was decreased to 18.3% of its original size by July, while at another site, low spring seedbank of common lambsquarters of 25 000 seed m-2 increased to 40 000 seed m-2 by autumn. Seedbank studies usually report results on total seed density or on densities of the most abundant species because of difficulties in analyzing large species matrices using parametric statistics. Multivariate analysis and specifically canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) are well suited for seedbank populations. The seedbanks of six agricultural habitats were demonstrated to be floristically different based on the analysis of the relative abundance of weed species in each site using CDA. Organic soils either under grassland or cultivated had significantly larger total seedbanks than mineral soils. If seedbanks are to be used in predictive population models, quantitative data that are reliable, rapidly obtained with limited resources, and logistically feasible for large sampling protocols are needed. Image analysis may be a potential rapid technique for weed seed recognition of washed soil samples.

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