AMBON – the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network
Katrin Iken1, Seth L Danielson2, Jacqueline M Grebmeier3, Lee W Cooper4, Russell R Hopcroft5, Kathy Kuletz6, Kathleen Stafford7, Franz J Mueter8, Eric Collins1, Bodil Bluhm9, Sue E Moore10 and Robert J Bochenek11, (1)University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (2)UAF, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (3)Univ MD Center Enviro Science, Solomons, MD, United States, (4)University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; IASC Marine WG Chair, Solomons, MD, United States, (5)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (6)US Fish and Wildlife Service, Migratory Bird Management, Anchorage, AK, United States, (7)University of Washington, Advanced Physics Lab, (8)UAF, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Juneau, AK, United States, (9)University of Tromso, Arctic and Marine Biology, Tromso, Norway, (10)NOAA Seattle, Seattle, WA, United States, (11)Axiom Data Science LLC, Anchorage, AK, United States
Abstract:
The goal of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) is to build an operational and sustainable marine biodiversity observing network for the US Arctic Chukchi Sea continental shelf. The AMBON has four main goals: 1. To close current gaps in taxonomic biodiversity observations from microbes to whales, 2. To integrate results of past and ongoing research programs on the US Arctic shelf into a biodiversity observation network, 3. To demonstrate at a regional level how an observing network could be developed, and 4. To link with programs on the pan-Arctic to global scale. The AMBON fills taxonomic (from microbes to mammals), functional (food web structure), spatial and temporal (continuing time series) gaps, and includes new technologies such as state-of-the-art genomic tools, with biodiversity and environmental observations linked through central data management through the Alaska Ocean Observing System. AMBON is a 5-year partnership between university and federal researchers, funded through the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), with partners in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM), and Shell industry. AMBON will allow us to better coordinate, sustain, and synthesize biodiversity research efforts, and make data available to a broad audience of users, stakeholders, and resource managers.
