Posts tagged with "OBIS data"

Counting seals with drones and thermal imagery
Counting seals with drones and thermal imagery

Alexander Seymour and his team at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada counted 3,355 grey seals using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAV) with thermal sensors. The case study was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal. The data are available in OBIS through our OBIS-SEAMAP node.

Identifying relevant predictors for marine species distribution modelling with MarineSPEED
Identifying relevant predictors for marine species distribution modelling with MarineSPEED

Bosch et al. (2017) showed that while temperature is a relevant predictor of global marine species distributions, considerable variation in predictor relevance is linked to the species distribution modelling (SDM) set-up. A standardized benchmark dataset (MarineSPEED) was created by combining records from OBIS and GBIF with environmental data from Bio-ORACLE and MARSPEC. Using this dataset, predictor relevance was analysed under different variations of SDMs for all combinations of predictors from eight correlation groups.

Illuminating the Twilight Zone - expert panel maps the world's mesopelagic zone
Illuminating the Twilight Zone - expert panel maps the world's mesopelagic zone

A new study using data from OBIS identified 33 mesopelagic ecoregions of the world’s oceans. This is a first step towards a dynamic mesopelagic biogeography, which forms an important baseline to assess human impacts on the mesopelagic, or "twilight" zone; world’s second-largest cumulative ecosystem.

Plant feeding promotes diversity in the Crustacea
Plant feeding promotes diversity in the Crustacea

Poore et al. (2017) showed that the ability to eat seaweeds and plants promotes diversity among crustaceans, just as it does among herbivorous insects. The records from OBIS for each clade were analysed to estimate range size, latitudinal range and the occurrence in the biogeographic realms of Spalding et al. (2007). These analyses detected that plant-feeding clades did, on average, have larger range sizes, and that the increases in their richness could not be explained by disproportionate sampling in the tropics or in certain biogeographic regions.

Analysis of OBIS maps distinct biogeographic realms in the world ocean
Analysis of OBIS maps distinct biogeographic realms in the world ocean

Analysis of OBIS demonstrates for the first time that the ocean can be classified into distinct realms based on the uniqueness of their animals and plants. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Highest marine species richness is found in tropical coastal areas
Highest marine species richness is found in tropical coastal areas

Costello & Chaudhary (2017) used data from OBIS to show that marine species richness is higher in the coastal tropics and decreases with depth. The paper reviews what factors have led to species diversification, and how this knowledge informs conservation priorities.

Too hot at the Equator?
Too hot at the Equator?

A recent review of the literature and available data on latitudinal gradients in marine species richness in OBIS found that in all previous studies, and for a dataset of 65 000 species, they were bimodal, with a dip in richness immediately south of the Equator (−5° to −15°). This was the case for benthic and pelagic, vertebrate and invertebrate, and all species together.

Some like it warm? Warm-dwelling species have increased in response to climate change in western/central Europe
Some like it warm? Warm-dwelling species have increased in response to climate change in western/central Europe

A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, using data from OBIS, showed effects of climate change on species’ abundances, with an increase of warm-dwelling marine fish in the North Sea.

Multimodal SADs linked to spatial and taxonomic breadth
Multimodal SADs linked to spatial and taxonomic breadth

Species abundance distribution (SAD) models using OBIS and GBIF data reveals multimodality patterns are rather common and increase with ecological heterogeneity.

Use cases tagged with "OBIS data"

Multimodal SADs linked to spatial and taxonomic breadth
Multimodal SADs linked to spatial and taxonomic breadth

Species abundance distribution (SAD) models using OBIS and GBIF data reveals multimodality patterns are rather common and increase with ecological heterogeneity.

Some like it warm? Warm-dwelling species have increased in response to climate change in western/central Europe
Some like it warm? Warm-dwelling species have increased in response to climate change in western/central Europe

A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, using data from OBIS, showed effects of climate change on species’ abundances, with an increase of warm-dwelling marine fish in the North Sea.

Too hot at the Equator?
Too hot at the Equator?

A recent review of the literature and available data on latitudinal gradients in marine species richness in OBIS found that in all previous studies, and for a dataset of 65 000 species, they were bimodal, with a dip in richness immediately south of the Equator (−5° to −15°). This was the case for benthic and pelagic, vertebrate and invertebrate, and all species together.

Highest marine species richness is found in tropical coastal areas
Highest marine species richness is found in tropical coastal areas

Costello & Chaudhary (2017) used data from OBIS to show that marine species richness is higher in the coastal tropics and decreases with depth. The paper reviews what factors have led to species diversification, and how this knowledge informs conservation priorities.

Analysis of OBIS maps distinct biogeographic realms in the world ocean
Analysis of OBIS maps distinct biogeographic realms in the world ocean

Analysis of OBIS demonstrates for the first time that the ocean can be classified into distinct realms based on the uniqueness of their animals and plants. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Plant feeding promotes diversity in the Crustacea
Plant feeding promotes diversity in the Crustacea

Poore et al. (2017) showed that the ability to eat seaweeds and plants promotes diversity among crustaceans, just as it does among herbivorous insects. The records from OBIS for each clade were analysed to estimate range size, latitudinal range and the occurrence in the biogeographic realms of Spalding et al. (2007). These analyses detected that plant-feeding clades did, on average, have larger range sizes, and that the increases in their richness could not be explained by disproportionate sampling in the tropics or in certain biogeographic regions.

Illuminating the Twilight Zone - expert panel maps the world's mesopelagic zone
Illuminating the Twilight Zone - expert panel maps the world's mesopelagic zone

A new study using data from OBIS identified 33 mesopelagic ecoregions of the world’s oceans. This is a first step towards a dynamic mesopelagic biogeography, which forms an important baseline to assess human impacts on the mesopelagic, or "twilight" zone; world’s second-largest cumulative ecosystem.

Identifying relevant predictors for marine species distribution modelling with MarineSPEED
Identifying relevant predictors for marine species distribution modelling with MarineSPEED

Bosch et al. (2017) showed that while temperature is a relevant predictor of global marine species distributions, considerable variation in predictor relevance is linked to the species distribution modelling (SDM) set-up. A standardized benchmark dataset (MarineSPEED) was created by combining records from OBIS and GBIF with environmental data from Bio-ORACLE and MARSPEC. Using this dataset, predictor relevance was analysed under different variations of SDMs for all combinations of predictors from eight correlation groups.

Counting seals with drones and thermal imagery
Counting seals with drones and thermal imagery

Alexander Seymour and his team at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada counted 3,355 grey seals using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAV) with thermal sensors. The case study was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal. The data are available in OBIS through our OBIS-SEAMAP node.