news

MBON Pole to Pole Progress Report

On September 9, Enrique Montes, University of South Florida, presented on the tremendous progress of the MBON Pole to Pole network in the Americas region. The talk, titled “A Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Pole-to-Pole of the Americas in support of conservation and sustainable use of living resources in the sea” was recorded and is available here. In summary, knowledge on the status and trends in marine biodiversity, and associated drivers of biodiversity change across the Americas is sparse and geographically uneven.

Monterey Bay Sanctuary Analysis Tools

in news, Tool Product, National Marine Sanctuaries

New tools were developed by partners of the Sanctuaries MBON team in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to investigate the relationships between the ocean environment and animal communities of the Sanctuary, and to convey this information to a variety of users. Interactive infographics provide dynamic status and trend information and data-driven storytelling for use by resource managers, educators, and public constituents of the Sanctuaries. For science teams and advisory groups that need additional detail and technical capabilities, MBON is developing curated data views and map-based data discovery tools.

National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative

in news

NEA at UNEP-WCMC supports countries undertaking ecosystems assessments. The National Ecosystem Assessment Initiative (NEA Initiative) at UNEP-WCMC launched a new website to support countries undertaking ecosystem assessments. The new online platform hosts a range of resources produced by the NEA Initiative and its partners, including webinars, guidance documents, reports, case studies and lessons learned seeking to present and promote the national ecosystem assessment process. National ecosystem assessments lay out the status and trends on biodiversity and ecosystem services in a given country, their drivers of change, the impacts those drivers are having now and, in the future, and the effectiveness of interventions and responses, empowering the consideration of the full value of nature in decision-making.

NOAA and Partner Agencies New Awards

in news

NOAA and partner agencies, including NASA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Office of Naval Research have awarded several new proposals On behalf of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, NOAA and partner agencies, including NASA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Office of Naval Research have awarded several new proposals that: Build upon the foundation established by the U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, the U.S. Animal Telemetry Network, and the U.

North Atlantic Right Whale Monitoring

in news

*Convened by Chris Orphanides, NEFSC Protected Species Branch, NOAA Fisheries; Catherine Johnson, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada DFO; Jeffrey Runge, University of Maine, MBON*. Over 30 regional experts in zooplankton oceanography and North Atlantic right whale (NARW) management met virtually over four days in September to coordinate Canadian and U.S. approaches to understanding NARW foraging habitat and applications to NARW conservation strategies. The population of NARW, now at approximately 400 individuals, has been declining since 2010 and their foraging habitat has been shifting from the Gulf of Maine in summer/fall to the Gulf of St.

OBIS and UNESCO Marine World Heritage Sites

in news

OBIS helping to assess biodiversity at UNESCO Marine World Heritage sites OBIS partnered with UNESCO’s Marine World Heritage sites in a global project to study biodiversity. A two-year project using environmental DNA (eDNA) to study biodiversity across selected marine World Heritage sites by local citizens guided by expert support, to monitor fish as well as species red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was launched on the 18 th of October 2021.

Satellite-Based Hurricane Damage Assessment

in news, science

MBON, NERRS and NASA team develops automated, satellite-based method to evaluate damage caused by hurricanes and severe storms in coastal areas. Read more here.

Seascapes Biogeographic Regions Analysis

in news, science

MBON, with NOAA/AOML, has characterized seascapes for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and southwest Florida shelf nearshore environment using multivariate satellite and in situ measurements (MBON/CoastWatch Seascapes products: The effort illustrates best practices developed by MBON in collaboration with the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Research (SFER) project and NOAA/AOML. The work is described in a July 15 paper in Frontiers of Marine Science.

US and Global MBON Partnership

in news

US and global MBON partnered with US IOOS, NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), and NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to develop and routinely generate MBON Seascapes products and make them available on NOAA CoastWatch. Derived from dynamic fields of satellite and modelled data, Seascapes are classified and used as a biogeographical framework to describe dynamic, changing ocean habitats for MBON and other applications.

Watching for Changes in Marine Biodiversity

in news

Changes in marine biodiversity—the variety and variability of life in the ocean—can be an early indicator of change, provided it’s noticed. Read more here.

Supporting Organizations

Regional MBONs:

Partners and Affiliated Projects:

Working Groups

news

Search