Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity

Summary and Expectations

The purpose of the session is to refine and endorse a plan to develop and publish a 10-year blueprint for observing marine life in support of ecological forecasting, local to global ocean health assessments, promoting conservation, and sustaining the blue economy. The plan and vision will be developed by community leaders prior to OceanObs’19. The session will generate a recommendation for the global ocean observing community to integrate marine life and biodiversity into ocean observing efforts; the recommendation will outline requirements for multidisciplinary information to address user needs and promote use of best practices to bring together the observing community to accomplish this very major challenge over the next decade.

Expected Outcomes/Recommendations

• Integrate biological observations into the global observing system as an integral and necessary component of ocean ecosystem science and understanding.
• Implement available technologies for biological observing now, maximizing access to biological data and information to quantify, explain, and forecast biodiversity changes.
• Advance decadal plans for a fully encompassing global ocean observing system that integrates biology, biodiversity, physical and biogeochemical observations.