IBOY: Ongoing Projects

How is Biodiversity Changing?

Follow the icon for a detailed description of each project.
Project Title Principal Investigator and Institutional Affiliation

AmphibiaWeb: An information system for amphibian conservation biology.
D. Wake, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley (email, website)

Biodiversity at sea: a set of sustainable indicators
J-P. Feral, Marine Station network/ InBIM, France

CREO: A preliminary list of recently extinct species Ross MacPhee, American Museum of Natural History (email ,website)

DYNAMO: Dynamics of Biodiversity: Ostracods as models in freshwater ecosystems K. Martens, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (email)

Green and Blue Belts of Asia and the Western Pacific: A Network Study of Biodiversity H. Kawanabe, T. Nakashizuka, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University (email, website)

GROMS: Global Register of Migratory Species K. Riede, Zoological Research Institute and Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK), Bonn, Germany (website, email)

Impacts of Biological Invasions on ecosystem function and its economic valuation Mark Lonsdale, CSIRO, Australia (email)

Recovery of coral reef
biodiversity following bleaching: international coral reef observation year
J. Ogden, Florida Institute of Oceanography, USA (email) & T. Done, Australian Institute of Marine Sciences

Project descriptions:

AmphibiaWeb (website)

The motivation for this project arose from the alarming disappearance of amphibians from habitats at many places around the world. It is an interactive, web-based communication and database system covering all the amphibians in the world. The system is solidly based on real specimens and data that includes links to authority files and many sources of information on the web, as well as national, regional, and local status and trends of species...Our goal is to be able to make a definitive statement about every species of amphibian on the planet.

--David Wake

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Biodiversity at sea

This project will develop a set of indicator species to monitor marine biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability. These indicators will be developed for different marine biotopes, and a standardized data collection protocol will be developed.

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CREO

"The purpose of the CREO research program is to foster an improved understanding of species extinctions that have occurred in recent times. One of the functions of CREO is to publish lists of extinct species [for taxa within all kingdoms for which recent extinction data exist] and regularly update these lists according to the most recent data...

Internationally based CREO advisory panels will coordinate the compilation and evaluation of the extinction data that will be published in the Preliminary List. Advisory Panels will include systematists, ecologists, and extinction specialists who have relevant knowledge and interest in producing accurate and detailed extinction inventories...The Preliminary List will be an essential reference tool...because of its unique function of listing extinctions by informative categories."

--Ian Harrison

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DYNAMO (Dynamics of Biodiversity: Ostracods as a model in freshwater ecosystems)

Ostracods are small freshwater crustaceans. This project uses current and paleoecological data to examine "the spatial and temporal dynamics of biological diversity." Ostracods are suited for this work due to their "abundant fossil record, in situ preservation allowing direct comparison between fossil and living assemblages, and there is a sound taxonomic and ecological basis for the study of extant populations." Objectives of the project include:

extending the database of European ostracod diversity by incorporating literature on Quaternary lakes
complete three intensive sampling programmes in selected European lakes
determine genetic and phenotypic diversity
integrative analyses of anthropogenic effects on freshwater ostracod biodiversity.

Products will include a clear-cut methodology to monitor extant diversity changes against the background of natural cyclicity, using non-marine ostracods as a model group. The results will be presented on CD-ROM.

--Koen Martens

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Green and Blue Belt network study

The target region is Western Pacific and Asia, where a zone of humid climate extends from the far north (Siberia) to south (New Zealand). It is also an area of high biodiversity and productivity. Goals of the project are:

Biodiversity surveys along latitudinal and related gradients and correlation with ecosystem function
Observation and monitoring of other patterns along secondary gradients (human impacts, long-term change, etc.)
Observations will be made on three ecosystems: freshwater, forest, and coastal marine.

--Tohru Nakashizuka

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GROMS

"GROMS will summarize our knowledge on migratory species in a relational database in combination with a geographical information system (GIS)...It will be available on the Internet and on CD-ROM by the end of the year 2000. We propose to launch monitoring programs of migratory species during IBOY which are based on the results and recommendations of the GROMS database project. There is a lack of data for many endangered groups such as small whales and migratory fish, and an urgent need to investigate their biology, identify threats and gather population data."


--Klaus Riede
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Invasions

This project will provide an assessment of the extent and impact of biological invasions in the terrestrial biosphere. Above-ground..both plants and vertebrate species will be taken into account. Below-ground...two or three invertebrate species will be studied in depth. For both components, the assessment will include the spatial extent of biological invasions and their impacts on both ecosystem function and economic value.

The project has three phases:

During 1999, develop a world-wide network via the Internet to look for and document the presence of invasions which will provide baseline patterns and distributions.
During 2000, collaborators will help us document the impacts of invasions on ecosystem function and economic value.
During 2001: various products will be published and presented during IBOY activities.

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Recovery of coral reef biodiversity following bleaching: International Coral Reef Observation Year

2001 will be a significant year for global coral reefs, as it will then be 3 years from the time of a major perturbation to coral reefs--the 1998 coral bleaching. The project's aims are to establish the extent to which coral reefs have recovered from the 1998 bleaching...Simple field and database protocols will be applied broadly by professional researchers and volunteers to produce a scientifically rigorous data set with a global scope. Members of the grassroots reef monitoring effort Reef Check will participate in the observation effort.

--Terry Done and John Ogden

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