Download Introduction - Emodnet Biology

Kick-off Meeting EMODNET Biological Lot
Minutes
8-9 June 2009 at VLIZ in Oostende (Belgium)
Present, Coordination Board Members: Francisco Hernandez (VLIZ); Simon Claus
(VLIZ); Ward Appeltans (VLIZ); Leen Vandepitte (VLIZ); Bart Vanhoorne (VLIZ);
Bruno Danis (obo GBIF); Carlo Heip (MARS/MarBEF); Neil Holdsworth (ICES);
Stéphane Pesant (PANGAEA); Dick Schaap (MARIS/SEADATANET); Volodymyr
Vladymyrov (IBSS)
Present, Advisory board members: Peter Pissierssens (IODE); Wouter Rommens (IODE);
Niall McDonough (MB); Maud Evrard (MB)
Apologised: Edward Vanden Berghe (OBIS), Gilbert Maudire
(IFREMER/SEADATANET), Éamonn Ó Tuama (GBIF)
Rapporteur: Ward Appeltans
Introduction
EMODNET (European Marine Observation and Data Network) is a contribution to the
EU Integrated Maritime Policy. Currently four pilots are under development.
The EMODNet biological pilot, officially started 15th May 2009, will build a proto-type
data system to provide biological data products to the EMODNET portal and other
European initiatives (e.g. data layers will be provided to the European Atlas of the Seas
and to the European broad-scale seabed habitat mapping project). The first proto-type of
the atlas should be ready by the end of 2009. The atlas will provide data to WISE-marine,
which is a data and information system managed by the EEA to support a pan-European
environment assessment.
The biological pilot has 8 partners (forming the Coordination Board – CB) and each
represent a large network of data custodians:
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VLIZ : EurOBIS, ERMS, WoRMS, PESI
NIOO-CEME : MarBEF, MARS
MARIS & IFREMER : Seadatanet
GBIF
Bremen University: PANGAEA/EurOceans
ICES: ICES: North East Atlantic and Baltic marine research institutions
Rutgers University: OBIS
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IBSS: Black Sea Marine Biology Network
And two additional members form the advisory board:
 ESF-Marine Board
 UNESCO/IOC/IODE
WP1 Coordination
Coordination
The coordination of the pilot is a task of the CB members and will be led by VLIZ. The
main deliverables are:
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Regular reports (every two months and yearly)
Inventory of data sets and gap analysis
Report on lessons learned, which will feed into the recommendations for the
future EMODNET portal
In order to make sure that all activities in the different pilots are geared to one another,
the Commission will organise annual meetings with the coordinators of the four lots.
Data Policy
The data should be as much as possible freely available (as stated in the EMODNET
principles), although we will respect the data policy of the data owner. We will provide
different options for data sharing and can make a distinction between “background” and
“foreground” data. Background data can be confidential and could be
“shaped/aggregated” or generalised (=foreground data) before they can be used/or
allowed to be used in the project for free. However, all of the background data must be
made available for the creation of the products. The access restrictions can also be
dynamic through time, e.g. set a moratorium period of 2-5 years.
Credits to the data owners is very important. However, defining custodians of historical
time series data is not always easy and we should consider how to deal with this.
It is proposed we need to work towards a common data policy and licence management
system for all pilots.
The MarBEF data policy, which works with different levels depending on the amount of
data used (<10% or >25%), is not favoured by the CB.
VLIZ will further investigate existing policies, such as those from SeaDataNet, BODC,
International Polar Year, SCOR, CBD and MarBEF. The CB needs to approve the
EMODNET data policy/licence options.
Comments
NH: all ICES members states signed up to make the data freely accessible.
WP2 Technical Development
Functional requirements of the portal
The EMODNet biological portal will be built on top of the existing EurOBIS system and
should:
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make data available in an OGC compliant system (WMS or WFS). EurOBIS is
doing this, based on GeoServer.
provide layers for the European Atlas of the Sea, WISE-Marine and European
Marine Habitats
follow INSPIRE rules
o Implementing rules metadata (ISO19115)
o Implementing rules discovery services (OGC - CSW)
o Implementing rules download service (OGC - WFS)
o Implementing rules viewing services (OGC – WMS)
WP3 Data Collation, Standardisation, Analysis &
Delivery
Data standards
Species names => QC via ERMS/WoRMS
Functional groups => add to ERMS/WoRMS.
Locality names => QC via VLIZ Marine Gazetteer (VLIMAR)
Metadata =>ISO19115 and INSPIRE compliant. Possible systems: IMIS, SDN CDI,
include sampling techniques, …?
Format => OBIS schema or the extendable new Darwin Core 2; OGC-compliant.
Data delivery via: DiGIR, TAPIR, IPT, MIKADO, MS Excel, etc...
Data Collection Strategy
1st step: completion of the data set inventory is a priority for the first six months. The
inventory of over 500 datasets in the MarBEF register of resources can be used as a
starting point, but needs QC. This inventory will be the basis for the gap analysis. The
datasets will have to classified according to the “taxonomic” categories (see data types).
2nd step: VLIZ will make a metadata template to further complete and update this
inventory. This template will be send to the coordination board which will be forwarded
to their network. The template should include a.o.:
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different options on data policy/licences
ask for information on the framework (project-based, national monitoring)
ask for a budget indication to make data compatible, conform our criteria
(mention maximum budget limit)
short-list of predefined products to which the data can contribute
3rd step. A target species and data product workshop is planned in Oostende, autumn
2009. This workshop should address the predefined product needs identified by our endusers (stakeholders and scientists). This workshop will also outline the data criteria and
needs (quality, types and standards). The CB members will help identify experts to be
invited for this workshop.
This workshop will be the first step towards a gap analysis. It will help set priorities (for
data delivery grants) and coordinate the future networking (who should contact who).
EMODNET will include as much as possible long-term national monitoring data.
However, many very valuable data are generated by short-term scientific projects. To
create an incentive for scientists to contribute their data, we will organise data analysis
workshops (this has worked very well in MarBEF). EMODNET could provide a budget
to prepare data and bring scientists together to perform analysis and create data products.
The results that come out of these workshops can motivate data owners to contribute their
data.
Data types
This project will target on:
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Biogeographical data: species, position, time; including:
o biomass, abundance, concentration
o depth, physical data (especially for new data)
o metadata
Indices: e.g. Biodiversity indices
For the following 8 biological groups/categories:
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Sea mammals, seabirds, reptiles, macro-algae, angiosperms, invertebrate bottom
fauna, phyto- and zooplankton
Chlorophyll can be included, but will be collected in collaboration with the
Chemical lot.
We should not be complete for the proto-type, but at least have 3 species per category
and we will not deal with fisheries data, because these are sensitive and fairly well
covered by other data systems.
Minimum data: species name; lat/long coordinates; date
Highly recommended data: abundance and/or biomass
Additional data: e.g. Chlorophyll a (depth measurement is important for this). Possibly
trough OGC webserver of Chemical lot.
Units and Parameters: Although the units are not mandatory in the OBIS scheme, they
are of the utmost importance when integrating data. When contacting possible data
providers, the importance of the units should be stressed. In parallel, when certain
parameters are mentioned (e.g. biomass), it should be specified as much as possible by
the data provider, as there exist different ways to calculate biomass (e.g. Wet Weight
versus Ash Free Dry Weight).
Comments:
NH: list of conversion factors is available and has been sorted out by experts. The most
commonly used unit for a certain parameter has been defined (e.g. temperature ~> °C).
LV: basic list of conversion factors from wet weight biomass to ash-free dry weight
biomass is available from NIOO for benthos
Although conversion to one agreed / defined unit will be necessary to compare data from
various sources, EurOBIS does not provide the possibility to automatically standardise
data based on units (e.g. to convert everything to ind/m²).
Habitat information and bathymetry will be provided by the Geological and
Hydrographical lot and the European broad-scale seabed habitat map preparatory action.
Nutrient data will be provided by the Chemical lot.
We will also collect as much as possible physical data such as salinity and temperature
(link with SeaDataNet).
For the following geographical area:
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North Sea (the testing area for all lots) + Gulf of Biscay + Iberian coast
However, we will not restrict our activities to this area. Budget limitations will be a
determining factor.
The borders of the areas will be based on Limits of Oceans and Seas published by IHO.
Comments:
SP: I can help in distinguishing pelagic from benthic species
NH: ICES had sent out a questionnaire to HELCOM and it turned out that a lot of
historical data are available on spreadsheets.
FH: IOC has a Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring programme.
VV: Todd O’Brien is coordinating the World Ocean Copepod database
VV: There is a lot of Black Sea Chlorophyll data available
CH: There is the large historical Helgoland/Sylt phytoplankton dataset. LV: this is
contributed to LargeNet, but is not open-access.
NH: ICES has bird data from by-catch
FH: The European Seabirds at Sea (ESAS) database is contributed to OBISSEAMAP. WA: Also a lot of marine mammal and reptile data is integrated by
OBIS-SEAMAP.
CH: Roscoff Biological Station and Ischia in Italy has a lot of macro-algal data
NH: I will send more information on the EU marine ecoregions proposal.
Partners
IBSS is developing a Central and Eastern European marine repository (CEEMaR)
within the Black Sea Marine Biology Network. Unfortunately data collected before
World War II are destroyed. IBSS is working hard to digitise all the cruise summary
reports and their collections of hydrobionts of the World Oceans.
IBSS is the Ukrainian Biological NODC within the IOC/IODE System and cooperates
with national and international organisations, such as IOC/UNESCO;
UNEP/UNDP/GEF; NATO; IAEA; CIESM; EU; IOI; SCAR. The Black Sea Marine
Biology Network unites the major institutions in Ukraine (8), Russia (3), Georgia (1),
Bulgaria (2), Romania (1) and Turkey (3).
SeaDataNet is an I3 EU FP6 Programme coordinated by IFREMER and MARIS and
brings together 49 partners of major EU scientific marine research institutes. SeaDataNet
is also leading the Chemical and Hydrography EMODNet pilots. Last year an agreement
was made within SeaDataNet to use the EurOBIS system for the management of
biogeographical data and EurOBIS agreed to exchange the metadata through the
MIKADO system. This joint agreement was an important step and certainly will help to
streamline data flow and coordination between the different pilots in EMODNet.
MarBEF was an EU FP6 NoE with 94 partners and was the largest EU network on
Marine Biodiversity. The five year project ended on 30 April 2009. A follow-up on
MarBEF is currently under development. The Commission has asked the three marine
NoEs (MarBEF, Marine-Genomics Europe and EurOceans) to jointly submit a proposal.
The NoE call will be published in July (1 M Euros).
MarBEF (and this new NoE) will operate under the umbrella of the MARS network,
which is a network of academic institutions and marine research stations, of which many
are custodians of historical time series, e.g. NIOZ has datasets with >50 years time span.
MarBEF is also involved in:
 LifeWatch
 GeoBON (through marine biodiversity working groups, together with NAML and
a Japanese network). They will meet in Naples on 30 October for the Global
Marine Biology Network Meeting.
 CoML
 IOC
 EsoNet (deepsea)
ICES. The ICES data centre employs 13 people and manages data on:
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Geography: Arctic, Baltic, Atlantic, Med
Time: +100 years of hydrographic, +50 years of fish trawl, +30 years of
biological data
Type: In-situ samples water, sediment, contaminants, from plankton to whales
The majority of data is online, and a few months ago over 700,000 distribution records
are contributed to EurOBIS through webservices.
The inventory of biological data holdings is online at
http://ecosystemdata.ices.dk/inventory/
ICES holds many fish trawl survey data (the North Sea surveys dating back to 1965).
ICES is also working on a fish predator/prey data set, 1980-1991 from the North Sea.
ICES will make the EcoSystemData portal OGC compliant so they can easily link-up to
EMODNET. ICES is:
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Using many SeaDataNet vocabs
Implementing SeaDataNet export formats
Using Web services (ERMS, EurOBIS)
Will have SeaDataNet quality flags
Will have physical data integrated
Dataset layer to add this year
GBIF. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international
organisation that is working to make the world's biodiversity data accessible anywhere in
the world. GBIF's members include countries and international organisations who have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding that they will share biodiversity data and
contribute to the development of increasingly effective mechanisms for making those
data available via the Internet.
OBIS is the marine thematic node in GBIF and all the biogeographical data in OBIS are
contributed to GBIF. Although most of the marine data in GBIF originates from OBIS,
there are additional marine data that can be contributed to EMODNET. In addition to
data, GBIF is also building data delivery and validation tools and webservices that may
be relevant to EMODNET. GBIF can rely on a very large network of data providers and
smaller associated networks (e.g. ScarMarBIN). It has a proven track record in metadata
standards and expertise in performing gap analyses (e.g. Bruno Danis for the Arctic and
Antarctic)
WDC-MARE / PANGAEA® is involved in project and data management of over
50 national, European, and international projects, including European research
programmes such as EPOCA (European Project on Ocean Acidification; 27 research
institutes in 9 European countries), SESAME (Southern European Seas: Assessing and
Modelling Ecosystem Changes; 47 research institutes in 21 European countries),
CARBOOCEAN (Marine Carbon Sources and Sinks Assessment; 47 research institutes
in 14 countries) and CoralFISH (Ecosystem based Management of Corals, Fish and
Fisheries; 16 research institutes in 10 European countries), and European Networks of
Excellence such as EUR-OCEANS (Ocean Ecosystems Analysis; 66 research institutes in
25 countries) and ESONET (European Seas Observatory Network). Other relevant
projects include IMAGES (International Marine Global Change Study), IODP/SEDIS
(International Ocean Drilling Project), and JGOFS (Joint Global Ocean Flux Study).
Biodiversity data that are generated by these programmes and archived at WDC-MARE /
PANGAEA®, will become available to EMODNET, within the limits of each
programme’s data policy, e.g. respecting moratoria on public access to data. More
specifically, WDC-MARE / PANGAEA® can provide data on plankton (including
viruses, bacteria, autotrophic and heterotrophic protists, crustaceans and jellyfish), micro, meio- and macrobenthos. In addition to contemporary observations they offer a very
extensive paleobiogeographic record from marine sediments. Biological data include key
biodiversity parameters such as abundance and biomass, and also a very extensive range
of parameters describing the life history of marine life, including size, weight,
development stages, sex, chemical constituents (e.g. isotopes and pigments), metabolic
rates (e.g. growth, feeding, respiration, primary production, reproduction), displacements,
etc. In addition to its contribution as data provider of key biodiversity data, WDC-MARE
/ PANGAEA® will contribute to archive/network and disseminate life history data that
relate to biodiversity. The European Network of Excellence for OCean Ecosystems
Analysis (FP7-NoE-EUR-OCEANS) has funded an extensive effort to rescue historical
plankton data from all European Seas and the World Oceans, including Arctic & Nordic
Seas, European North-Atlantic Shelves, and upwelling systems along the Iberian coast.
The data were rescued by 16 institutes from 11 different countries and are currently being
archived at WDC-MARE / PANGAEA®.
Marine Board. The Marine Board of the European Science Foundation, established
in 1955, has 30 members from 20 countries and is a non-governmental organisation. It
organises working groups to write authoritative position papers on marine related topics
(13 published so far). The Marine Board, in collaboration with EuroGOOS, has also
published the vision document for EMODNet. The proceedings of the 1st Marine board
forum on Marine Data Challenges: from Observation to Information is now also
available. The Marine Board is a big supporter and one of the instigators of the
EMODNet.
IODE. The IOC’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE)
was established in 1961 to enhance marine research, exploitation and development by
facilitating the exchange of oceanographic data and information between participating
Member States and by meeting the needs of users for data and information products.
An important recent development is that IODE has accepted OBIS within the IODE
Programme. This will be operational after October 2010 (end of CoML).
IODE recognises that OBIS has an important role to play in contributing to external
intergovernmental and international organizations dealing with global fisheries,
environmental and biodiversity issues including, but not restricted to, the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the Group on Earth Observations –
Biodiversity Observations Network, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the
Convention on Biological Diversity, and that this role should be continued and expanded
in the future,