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Evolution of biogeography in the 21st Century - Development of a North Pacific Nonindigenous Species Database
Citation:
REUSSER, D. AND H. LEE, II. Evolution of biogeography in the 21st Century - Development of a North Pacific Nonindigenous Species Database. Presented at 17th Annual PICES International Meeting, Dalian, CHINA, October 23 - 31, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
Aquatic invasive species are one of the major ecological threats to the ecological integrity of estuarine and near-coastal waters.
Description:
Aquatic invasive species are one of the major ecological threats to the ecological integrity of estuarine and near-coastal waters. However, lack of systematic inventories of nonindigenous species across the North Pacific countries limits our ability to assess how the extent of invasion varies by region, identify potential new invaders, or conduct invasive species risk assessment as varies by region, identify potential new invaders, or conduct invasive species risk assessments as described in the draft IMO ballast water treaty. To address this limitation, PICES Working Group 21 is supporting the development of a North Pacific Nonindigenous Species Database that will allow each country to list their nonindigenous species. To reduce language barriers, a graphical interface is used to the extent possible. Species distributions are being captured hierarchically using the global “Marine Ecosystems of the World” schema which divides near-coastal waters into 12 realms, 62 provinces, and 232 ecoregions. A world-wide gazetteer of harbors, bays, and estuaries is being developed to allow input by water body as well as by biogeographic region. The second component of the database is the development of a hierarchical natural history typology that allows users to capture information on species’ habitat and physiological requirements and life history characteristics. The objectives are to develop queriable natural history that allows users to extract information on multiple species and locations and to couple natural history with species’ distributions to better predict potential risks (e.g., all established infaunal estuarine invaders with pelagic larvae within an ecoregion). A demonstration of the prototype database will be presented on Thursday at the E-Poster session.