US MBON projects, partners and data play an important role in enabling the science, observing and management communities to document the relationships among biodiversity, organism abundance, system productivity, ecosystem health and ecosystem services. Since 2014, US MBON projects have been supported through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) with core funding from NOAA, NASA, BOEM, and ONR, with significant support from the US Geological Survey on data standardization and mobilization and overall coordination provided by the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) Program Office.

In Fiscal Year 2022, on behalf of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), NOAA and partner agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the Office of Naval Research have awarded several new proposals that: (1) build upon the foundation established by the US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), the US Animal Telemetry Network (ATN), and the US IOOS Regional Associations to work across sectors and disciplines towards an integrated, sustained marine life observing capability for the U.S. ocean, coasts and Great Lakes, from estuaries to the deep ocean; (2) advance technologies for efficient and/or automated collection of species and associated habitat observations; (3) enable open access to biodiversity data and information; and (4) utilize these observations, technologies, and data to address place-based (e.g., sanctuaries, reserves, protected areas, leasing blocks, etc) management, conservation and restoration needs. 

The Principal Investigators and project titles are as follows:

Francisco Chavez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The CeNCOOS MBON: Marine biodiversity information in support of a healthy Blue Economy in the central California Current

This project will integrate remote sensing products, in situ data and models in support of a healthy Blue Economy in the Central California Current (CCC). Targeted users include NOAA California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (CCIEA), National Marine Sanctuary Programs, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the State of California. The goal is to quantify relationships between climate, the ocean environment (physics, chemistry) and marine food webs (from microbes to fish and top predators), with the aim of providing predictive understanding of marine ecosystem responses to environmental change. 

Nathan Furey, University of New Hampshire

Quantifying marine biodiversity through movements and feeding: Assessing

coastal marine ecosystem dynamics near estuary mouths

This project will integrate powerful technologies (acoustic telemetry, environmental DNA [eDNA], and acoustics) with traditional fisheries sampling to quantify impacts of changes in local and regional water conditions on individuals, populations, and community structure. The team will study the impacts of forage species and environmental conditions on Atlantic cod and common terns in both New Hampshire and southern Maine (Casco Bay) coastal waters.

Cassandra Glaspie, Louisiana State University

Louisiana Deltaic Estuaries MBON: Sea Level Rise Sentinels

This project will establish a new MBON effort in coastal Louisiana, focusing on highly productive and diverse estuarine ecosystems as sea level rise sentinels.

Katrin Iken, University of Alaska Fairbanks

AMBON (Arctic MBON) – linking biodiversity observations in the Arctic

The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) is designed to provide high-quality biodiversity data from the Arctic Chukchi Sea across trophic levels, from microbes to whales. This project will continue efforts to collect biodiversity data across trophic levels and in relation to environmental conditions; to use biodiversity data to detect changes in species composition, including invasive species; and determine effective in situ observing designs through modeling.

Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida

The Southeast US Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON): Toward Operational Marine Life Data for Conservation and Sustainability

This project will serve as a regional collaboration hub of US IOOS to address needs for marine biodiversity information in the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast US EEZ. The effort focuses on the needs of resource managers of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and other federal and state jurisdictions spanning Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys, the West Florida Shelf, and deep corals.

More information is available at https://marinebon.org/.

Casey Godwin, University of Michigan

Dynamics of Biodiversity Across Lakescapes in North America’s Inland Seas

This project will fill a critical gap in science and management of the Great Lakes by creating a BON that uses complementary technological approaches to address interconnections among dynamic pelagic habitats known as “Lakescapes”, biodiversity across the tree of life, movement of key fisheries species, and the role of diversity in supporting ecosystem functions.

Neil Hammerschlag, Shark Research Foundation

An Operational BioTrack: Monitoring At-Risk Marine Species Biodiversity Hotspot Interactions with Management and Resource Use Areas to Support Stakeholder Needs in the Face of Global Change

BioTrack is a collaborative network to assess and monitor biodiversity hotspots where marine species share habitat. These hotspots are expected to be changing with global change. By integrating satellite and acoustic tracking of marine animals with remotely sensed environmental data, and modeling techniques, BioTrack aims to map these biodiversity hotspots and their intersections with areas of human use and interest, such as marine sanctuaries and wind energy leasing blocks.

Maria Kavanaugh, Oregon State University

Marine Biodiversity Observation Network in the Northern California Current: Dynamic, Multiscale Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function to Support Emerging Science and Management Needs

This project will extend the observational framework of US MBON to the Pacific Northwest – a region that presents unique hydrological, ecological, and socio-economic interactions with marine biodiversity, but also has a long history of ocean observing. 

Jackie Motyka and Cameron Thompson, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems

Multi-Trophic Level Expansion of the Gulf of Maine Marine Biodiversity Observation Network: Meeting Management Challenges in a Rapidly Changing Ecosystem

This project will address a crucial gap for understanding phenological and long-term change in the GoM marine ecosystem that has been identified by the Integrated Sentinel Monitoring Network (ISMN) – namely, time series observations of plankton biodiversity at subannual scales.

Matthew Ogburn, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Mid-Atlantic MBON: Dynamic Biodiversity and Telemetry Data for a Changing Coast

Understanding the health and status of ecosystems is essential for coastal management, conservation, and alternative energy planning. This project will establish and develop an MBON for the Mid-Atlantic coast. It will include work to transition intermittent observations and sampling to monthly and daily scales, and demonstration of an integrated biodiversity and telemetry observation program in the location of the Maryland Wind Energy Area, leveraging an ongoing monitoring program supported by U.S. Wind, Inc. The project will integrate meteorological-oceanographic data, satellite observations, animal telemetry, soundscapes, and environmental DNA. It will create open access to biodiversity data and information, develop species distribution models that will scale to the Mid-Atlantic region, and engage stakeholders in the development and design of data and information delivery tools.