Background
The Interagency Working Group on Biodiversity (IWG-BIO) was established in 2008 to enhance coordination and interoperability of ocean biodiversity research and monitoring among federal agencies to inform mandated activities (e.g., management, protection, regulation) and to understand, assess, and manage climate and environmental impacts on ocean life and habitats. Goals include identifying opportunities and leveraging funding for joint collaborative research between federal and non-federal entities. Themes of particular and long-term interest to the IWG include advancing standards and best practices for interoperable, widely accessible biodiversity data; integrating satellite data products with in situ observations of ocean biodiversity to understand the distribution and abundance of organisms and the integrity of ecosystems; and expanding collection and resolution of ocean biodiversity information across all realms, including the deep sea, coasts, and Great Lakes.
Motivations and Scope
The IWG-BIO meets quarterly to discuss topics of mutual interest, including:
- Biological research and monitoring that could support federal agencies' information needs to better understand, assess, and/or manage ocean-scale change and environmental impacts on marine organisms, their habitats, and living resources;
- Opportunities for collaboration across agencies when funding allows;
- Assisting interagency efforts to advance standards and best practices for collection, management, and archiving of marine biological data and to ensure open access to the data;
- Facilitating communication on vulnerable deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystem issues;
- Integrating satellite data products with in situ observations of elements of marine biodiversity in order to increase understanding of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the integrity of ecosystems.
The IWG-BIO has been instrumental in advancing the U.S. and global Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), including through significant interagency investments in U.S. MBON projects (https://marinebon.org/us-mbon/) from 2014 to the present and through support of the MBON Pole to Pole in the Americas (https://marinebon.github.io/p2p/index.html) initiative. Other standing items of group discussion include coordination and engagement around the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development activities and programmes, including Marine Life 2030; integrating biodiversity information with animal movement and passive acoustic monitoring; advancing new technologies, e.g., environmental DNA (eDNA) and other ‘omics approaches; building a community of practice around common biodiversity data and metadata standards; deep sea research, including corals; and national efforts for ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization.
National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy
The IWG-BIO led the effort to develop the National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy, released by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in June 2024, and is now supporting efforts to implement the National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy in order to expand and coordinate stewardship of the nation’s rich ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes biodiversity. This includes IWG-BIO contributions to events such as the NOPP Ocean Life Forum (August 2023), a high-level Summit on Ocean Biodiversity (January 2024), and continuing public engagement events.
Membership
The IWG-BIO is co-chaired by Gabrielle Canonico (NOAA), Woody Turner (NASA), and Jim Price (BOEM). Membership is open to any federal agency representative interested in joining.
eDNA Task Team
A Task Team focused on environmental DNA (eDNA) was established by the IWG-BIO in 2022 to accelerate adoption of aquatic eDNA analysis to inform environmental research and operational monitoring efforts to address mission objectives and management needs at local, state, regional, and national scales. The eDNA Task Team is co-chaired by Mike Weise (ONR), Chris Meyer (Smithsonian), Kelly Goodwin (NOAA), and Maggie Hunter (USGS). The eDNA Task Team led the development of the National Aquatic eDNA Strategy, which was released by OSTP in June 2024, and is now leading efforts to implement the National Aquatic eDNA Strategy.