EMODnet Biology Work Package 2 Mark Costello & Dan Lear m.costello@auckland.ac.nz dble@mba.ac.uk

Task 2.1 Deliverables   D2.1 List of species tagged with role and importance within MSFD reporting and the linked descriptor for inclusion in ERMS/WoRMS (M6). D2.2.EU-wide assessment of those species and communities identified by national MSFD leads as required for MSFD monitoring and reporting (M18). Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure (PESI) has already tagged entries in WoRMS with: CITES Habitats Directive Birds Directive OSPAR IUCN

Descriptor 1: Biological diversity Descriptor 2: Non-indigenous species Descriptor 3: Population of commercial fish / shell fish Descriptor 4: Elements of marine food webs Descriptor 6: Sea floor integrity OSPAR well advanced in indicator development (ICG-COBAM). The stage of indicator development not clear for the other Regional Sea Commissions. Some indicators relate to habitats/communities/beds/reefs –where possible these will be tagged against species as “candidate indicators” Deliverables depend on the agreement and publication of indicators for all RSC’s – phased approach to the list

2.1 - Next 12 months Post-doc at MBA will Review, asses and update existing lists for EU and Int Legislation and Conventions to include species included in HELCOM, Barcelona & Bucharest Conventions Liaise with Regional Sea and national MSFD leads for indicators Carry out initial assessment of indicator status and timeline for delivery Populate matrix linking Species -> MSFD Region -> Indicator -> Descriptor Publish tagged species list for inclusion in WoRMS

Task 2.2 Deliverables D2.3: Organization of a data attributes workshop to discuss a standardized vocabulary and prioritize the biological attribute and trait information, in collaboration with WoRMS taxonomic editors (M6). D2.4: Publication of proposed standardized species attributes vocabulary (M24). D2.5: Selected European marine species tagged with relevant species attributes information and available through WoRMS and on the EMODnet biological portal (M36).

Task 2.2 Progress to date 6 pilot project (4 in progress) Planktonic Copepods Planktonic Taxa Benthic Taxa Sea & Coastal Birds Macro-algae (starts Oct 2013) Invasive species (Completed) Common terms compared Already highlighting issues of confused or conflicting terminology and the need for a vocabulary

Task 2.2 Progress to date Copenhagen Workshop on Traits (Aug 2013) Produced a “wish list” for what a traits database should provide: “Raw” data – not just coded/categorised data Clear differentiation between ‘derived’ and/or ‘inferred’ traits and ‘measured’ traits Redundancy and hierarchy Clear definition of traits, traits categories and trait values, hence An agreed vocabulary, hierarchy or ontology. Genomic, molecular and/or physiological and ecotoxicology traits

Task 2.2 Discussions Standards for traits are being development GBIF are developing Plinian Core (extension of Darwin Core) TDWG also have a group working on traits Need to agree an interoperable publication method Semantic Media Wiki allows comment/discussion on definitions and export to RDF or SKOS BODC Vocab Server – integration with SeaDataNet

Potential for traits vocab to be hierarchical to increase coverage and allow future refinement Example traits hierarchy for reproduction from Reusser & Lee (2011) .

Task 2.2 Discussions Traits “coding” – the aggregation of traits to a single value (eg Depth Range) Traits should be stored as multiple values per trait per species to facilitate different coding requirements and allow intra-species analysis Plus each value should be referenced Has implications for storage and display in WoRMS

2.2 - Next 12 months October 2013 - Collation of existing glossaries and traits catalogues Jan 2014 - Produce a “flat” traits vocabulary for comment (with examples in a Semantic Media Wiki) Feb 2014 - Workshop in Paris (thanks to Ifremer) for discussion and development of vocab Dec 2014 - Further refinement and publication of vocab in standard format (SKOS/RDF) with initial trait values in WoRMS

Image courtesy of Science