Ocean Ecosystems & Biodiversity

1. What–Assessment of structure, functioning and distribution of ocean ecosystems and how these change in time. Add biodiversity. Appraisal of the relationship between ecosystem structure and function and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Development of a predictive understanding of ecosystems and ecosystem change. Understanding ecosystem disturbance on synoptic to climate time scales. Evaluation of the diversity of ocean life and its role in ecosystem function and biogeochemical cycling. Higher tropic levels and secondary production. Benefit to Society – Biodiversity and relationship to ecosystems resilience to change – GIVE EXAMPLE OF MISSING PIECE. Ecosystem provide services to society such as nutrient cycling, fisheries, ecosystem-based management, human health, natural products, pollutant degradation, long-term carbon repository, etc. Ocean ecosystems help regulate global biogeochemical cycles that in turn regulate the Earth System. Further, society [used to] value the non-use existence value of healthy ocean ecosystems – SIMPLIFY - ID biological hot spots – consrvations Observational Strategy – Need to remotely assess useful ecosystem parameters (biomass, partitioning of biomass into functional groups), net primary production, etc. over synoptic to global scales. Multiple spatial and spectral resolution encompassing polar-orbiting and geostationary platforms. Accurate global time series of sea surface reflectance, coupled models (driven by other RS quantities), assessments of functional groups of phytoplankton via hyperspectral imagery, phytoplankton primary production via modeling & observations of sea surface reflectance and active Lidar. Systematic observations of the ocean environment, including SSH, vector wind, SST, SSS, O3, Aerosols, MLD, etc., are required to understand the functioning ecosystems over synoptic to climatic time scales. Integration with in situ technologies provides a means to extend surface-ocean observations to depth, and to calibrate observations in complex environments in near-real-time. Implementation of ecosystem models required for predictive capability. Ocean Ecosystems & Biodiversity How are ocean ecosystems and the diverse biological communities they support function and how is ecosystem function changing over time?