A - C
CENSEAM
A global study of seamount ecosystems, to determine their role in the biogeography, biodiversity, productivity, and evolution of marine organisms, and to evaluate the effects of human exploitation. Seamounts are ubiquitous features of the world's underwater topography and may play an important role in patterns of marine biogeography, potentially supporting high biodiversity and unique biological communities. Seamounts are often highly productive ecosystems, and may act as feeding grounds for fishes, marine mammals and seabirds. They are targeted for resource extraction such as fisheries and mining, but are ecologically vulnerable to such exploitation. At a global scale their biodiversity is poorly known with relatively few (< 200 of an estimated 100 000) seamounts having been studied in any detail. CenSeam commenced in 2005 and the CenSeam science community, with particular input from CenSeam's Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG), has defined two overarching priority themes (1) What factors drive community composition and diversity on seamounts, including any differences between seamounts and other habitat types? (2) What are the impacts of human activities on seamount community structure and function? CenSeam has been working to coordinate existing and planned programs for maximum benefit, catalyze new seamount sampling activities, align research approaches and data collection where possible to ensure that opportunities for collaboration between programs are maximized, and integrate and analyze incoming information to create new knowledge. The program is working toward standardizing sampling methods (through the Standardisation Working Group, SWG) and data reporting (through the DAWG) wherever possible, to facilitate comparisons of biodiversity between areas. CenSeam is helping to guide future sampling with a global perspective to fill critical knowledge gaps and target understudied regions and types of seamounts. In addition to fostering new expeditions, CenSeam is also consolidating and synthesizing existing data. OBIS is served by the open-access SeamountsOnline database (http://seamounts.sdsc.edu/), which is continually being expanded to include more physical and oceanographic data, and new data as they become available. This integrated seamount database is key to comprehensive synthesis and analysis of data as the program develops. CenSeam's website is continually updated and CenSeam newsletters are regularly circulated (and can additionally be downloaded from the website; http://censeam.niwa.co.nz/censeam_news/newsletters). As well as serving the science community, the website targets students and members of the public with ship-to-shore logs and features on some of the weird and wonderful creatures found on seamounts (http://censeam.niwa.co.nz/outreach/censeam_creatures). By the end of the Census in 2010, much will remain unknowable given the large number of seamounts, their widespread distribution, and large variability in physical characteristics and habitat type. But under CenSeam much progress will be made to improve our understanding of, and erect new paradigms about, seamount ecosystems. Summary provided by http://censeam.niwa.co.nz/