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| Amphibians, frogs, salamanders and caecilians, may be ‘miner’s canaries’ for ecosystem health in response to global change. Amphibian population declines, and even disappearances of species, have been observed in Central and South America, Australia and western North America. What is particularly alarming is that many examples are from protected habitats. The cause or causes of these declines and disappearances are unknown, but several factors such as increased radiation, chemical pollution, pathogens (both viral and fungal), or stress factors associated with climate change all have been postulated as causes of the declines. | |
In order to understand what is happening to amphibian populations, there is a great need for accessible, accurate and authoritative information on all amphibian species. In February 2000, AmphibiaWeb, a web-based communication and database system, was launched in an effort to fulfil this need. The project was developed as a collaboration between the UC Berkeley Digital Library Project and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
AmphibiaWeb brings together available knowledge on amphibian species such as taxonomic authority files for all the described species, provided by the American Museum of Natural History-Amphibian Species of the World and many other sources of information on the web, such as the IUCN and CITES listings and information on local to national trends for species. From AmphibiaWeb data bases of seven major museums can be accessed, thus providing accurate information concerning reference samples for each species. The goal is to be able to make a definitive statement about every species of amphibian on the planet. Already AmphibiaWeb provides at least partial accounts for all species of amphibians (about 5300), and maintains up-to-date lists of all of the species of amphibians in the world, as well as lists per country.
Development of AmphibiaWeb relies upon scientists from around the world volunteering information to create a Web page for each species. AmphibiaWeb has received many contributions including written species accounts (over 500), photographs (over 700), range-maps (more than 1000), literature references (over 2000), and sound files. The information for each species is solidly supported by referenced data and is continuously reviewed and edited by AmphibiaWeb’s Editorial Committee and the credited, validated information posted on AmphibiaWeb.
2001 and 2002 will see a major effort to secure global participation in the development of AmphibiaWeb. Queries to the database have increased dramatically since the February 2000 launch date (May 2001 saw an average of over 350 queries per day) and as more information is added this trend is expected to continue. In April 2002 a new version of AmphibiaWeb was launched. The new AmphibiaWeb includes a “Watch List” of extinct and threatened amphibians. AmphibiaWeb is used by the scientific community but is also widely used for educational and research purposes, and it is rapidly becoming the authoritative source for information on amphibians.
February 15, 2002 – Dr. David Wake reported the latest developments of AmphibiaWeb in “AmphibiaWeb - An informatics approach to a biodiversity crisis.” As part of the Symposium “Biodiversity Science and Global Research: The International Biodiversity Observation Year” at the AAAS Annual Meeting and Science Exposition, Boston MA.
Publications
Current extinction rates mean that future generations may only be able to see and hear many species through photographs, films, videos and sound recordings. There have been no safeguards for the preservation of these natural history images and sounds, which are currently scattered in a variety of commercial and specialist libraries and private collections throughout the world, with little or no public access.
The WILDSCREEN Festival 2000, held in October 2000 in Bristol UK, saw the launch of an intensive effort to build ARKive - the start of the creation of a centralised, digital library of films and photographs, preserved for all time, of the species and habitats in our natural world - accessible to all via the Internet. ARKive is an initiative of The Wildscreen Trust, and is being developed in association with WWF and the UNEP -World Conservation Monitoring Center.
ARKive's long-term priority is to store and make available images and sounds of the world's critically endangered species, the "last chance to see" animals and plants. A collaboration with Hewlett Packard Laboratories (Europe) is producing innovative ways to store, layer, retrieve and track the digital records quickly. Within the website, layered levels of learning are being developed to ensure there is something suitable for all, fom youngsters to learned professors. These will include selected images, appropriate supporting information, a cross-indexed glossary, plus links to further information and activities as well as resources for teachers.
Arkive is also collaborating with Flora and Fauna International to develop an educational and entertaining website aimed at a young audience. It will explain biodiversity, extinction and conservation issues via interactive on-line education module. The first of these will feature the Antiguan Racer Conservation Project, an internationally recognized program to save the world’s rarest snake.
DEFRA (the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has commissioned ARKive to create a pilot project to compile an online identification guide for CITES listed corals, to help customs officials around the world control the trade in these endangered species.
At its headquarters in Bristol UK, ARKive will also house a library of the world's most important full-length natural history films, a collection of filmed interviews with pioneering wildlife filmmakers, and a comprehensive underlying database, detailing the location and copyright information of all known collections of natural history images and recordings.
Recent and Upcoming Activities:
Publications:
2001 and 2002 will see unprecedented cooperation and the establishment of a network of marine scientists and research institutes across Europe, to build capacity to address long-term and large-scale marine biodiversity research questions.
Three work packages were part of this program which:
(1) identified a network of reference sites for long-term and large-scale marine biodiversity research in Europe.
During 2001, in the first phase of this program, more than 190 stations were proposed as reference sites. During subsequent regional meetings, an independent committee selected 35 sites. Reference sites will be the primary sites for the intensive research. They are pristine, contain a mosaic of habitats, have a large body of existing published information, are recognized as nationally important and protected, and possess the infrastructure for biodiversity studies. During 2002, a series of workshops have laid the groundwork for research programs at this network of sites to: examine the underlying phylogenies of marine biodiversity in Europe and how this varies along longitudinal and latitudinal gradients; develop and test rapid assessment techniques and indices for estimating biodiversity based on 'coarse' data; and initiate long-term observational studies to establish patterns of change.
Workpackage 1 leader - Richard Warwick
(2) identified internationally standardized and normalized indicators of marine biodiversity
In 2001, an inventory of existing national monitoring networks and of different types of bioindicators already used in Europe was conducted to provide baseline information. A workshop was held in Palina, November 2001 at which a standardized protocol for biodiversity indicators was drafted. Subsequently, an e-conference to canvas the European marine biodiversity research community on current knowledge of indicators for detecting environmental change, invasive species and genetic and molecular diversity took place in January and February 2002. This information was reviewed at subsequent regional workshops and meetings to standardize monitoring work, and maximize efficiency of information coverage. The researchers determined geographical units and indicator groups to be measured and how to express the biodiversity information collected so that comparable information across sites can be generated to enable Europe-wide assessments. In conjunction with Workpackage 3, they designed a database to make this monitoring information available for public use.
Workpackage 2 leader - Jean-Pierre Feral
Background reading:
- Feral, J.P. 1998. Les indicateurs de la biodiversite marine en Mer Mediterranee. RAC/SPA - UNEP, 29 pp.
- Feral, J.P. 1999. Indicators of marine and coastal biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea. UNEP (OCA) / MED WG. 154/Inf. 5
(3) built a capacity for international biodiversity research by promoting networking and information dissemination.
Workshops and inventories were held to assess current opportunities for information dissemination and networking and making recommendations for improving cross-site training and mobility. They reviewed ongoing research programs and existing infrastructure and compile a check-list of locations of information, so the information can more easily be used to answer basic research and management questions relating to fishing and tourism. This checklist of available information and recommendations for greater unification of these different databases will be published on the web, so that it is available to a wide audience including basic and applied researchers, managers, and the public. The first edition of the BIOMARE newsletter was published in November 2001 and is available from the BIOMARE webpage.
As part of this work-package, an e-conference on Marine Biodiversity Research in Europe was held from October 8 - 29, 2001 where it was decided to develop further: (i) databases on researchers and managers on marine biodiversity issues, (ii) databases on marine biodiversity datasets, and (iii) the dissemination of findings to the managers and public through brochures and flyers. The results were presented to the European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy on December 2, 2001 in Brussels Belgium.
Workpackage 3 leader - Chris Emblow
The work initiated by BIOMARE will continue during 2003-2005 through MARBENA, funded by the European Commission, which will be devoted to:
Recent and upcoming meetings include:
Regional Meetings April 2001 Atlantic and Arctic Region Tromso, Norway Mediterranean and Black Sea region Corinth, Greece Baltic and North Sea Region Hel, Poland March 2002 Mediterranean and Black Sea region Palma de Mallorca, Spain Baltic and North Sea Region Helgoland, Germany April 2002
Atlantic and Arctic Region Lisbon, Portugal Workshops November 2-3, 2001 Palma de Mallorca, Spain At this workshop conclusions from the first year of BIOMARE, including regional workshops and inventories of existing knowledge and infrastructure, were presented. Planning for the subsequent operational phase took place.
March 18, 2002
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
September 8-11, 2002 Tromsö, Norway EuroConference May 7-11, 2001 Corinth Greece Steering Committee Meetings The first BIOMARE Steering Committee meeting was held November 13-14, 2000, NIOO-CEMO, Yerseke, The Netherlands. The objectives, tasks, timetable for products and dates of future meetings and workshops were established. September 2001 Dublin, Ireland October 30-31, 2001 Palma de Mallorca, Spain April 17-18, 20, 2002 Azores, Portugal October 25-27, 2002 Banyuls sur Mer, France E-Conference October 8-29, 2001 Electronic Conference on Marine Biodiversity in Europe December 2, 2001 Results of e-conference presented to European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy, Brussels, Belgium. January 16-February 15, 2002 E-conference as part of Workpackage 2, to canvass the European marine biodiversity research community on current knowledge of indicators for detecting environmental change, invasive species and genetic and molecular diversity. April 22-May 3, 2002 E-conference on Marine Biodiversity in Europe: European heritage under threat: Marine Biodiversity in Mediterranean Ecosystems. The conference follows from the MARBENA project (a EU-FP5 project). May 11-13, 2002 Results of the MARBENA e-conference presented at the European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy (EPBRS) meeting under the Spanish EU Presidency. Final Report October 2002 The final report will be published and results will also be published in specialist and non-specialist journals and in COASTline the journal of the European Union for Coastal Conservation.
Radio
-- Carlo Heip and Herman Hummel
Biodiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa (BIOTA AFRICA) (website)
Under a 'business as usual' scenario, the relatively less degraded biomes in African can expect rapid changes in the future, associated with a remarkable loss of species richness. The biodiversity loss not only reduces future evolutionary potential and opportunity for developing benefits from the organisms in the future, but also reduces environmental quality and thus the living conditions of the people. Often, the course of such processes is slow and difficult to be traced back. Very often the consequences for local people are only perceived indirectly, e.g. when looking at socio-economic changes like increased emigration to the cities or the rise of violent conflicts.
The BIOTA AFRICA project comprises over 30 sub-projects, which, in close co-operation with research institutions in a number of African countries, will analyze and monitor the changes of biodiversity in the most important biomes of the African continent, using an interdisciplinary and integrative approach. The overall goal of the project is to provide information for decision-makers, to support practical, efficient and sustainable management of biodiversity, taking into account the functioning of ecosystems as well as the socio-economic framework. Feasible socio-economic land use practices will be analyzed in combination with scientifically based conservation concepts in order to preserve the resource biodiversity.
BIOTA AFRICA will analyze biodiversity and its change along the most important climatic gradient - the rainfall gradient (a) from tropical rainforests to arid savannas in West Africa (Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin), (b) from the dry forests to arid savannah and further to the winter rainfall zones in southern Africa (Namibia and South Africa), and (c) along the complex altitudinal gradients of mountains in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). These three project regions, BIOTA West Africa, BIOTA Southern Africa and BIOTA East Africa also have a different history of pastoralism, agriculture and other land use and therefore allow a comparison of effects of land-use histories on biodiversity. BIOTA AFRICA will also analyze the changing socio-economic conditions of the participating local communities, their dependence on natural resources and biodiversity, and their land use strategies. The data will be used to model the ecological, biological and socio-economic dynamics of the communities and options for action, supporting the development of scientifically sound and socio-economically feasible solutions for the management of landscapes and biodiversity.
A wide range of disciplines, including remote sensing, soil sciences, specialists for various groups of fauna and flora, in association with specialists from socio-economic disciplines and modeling, will use a standard methodology on 1Km2 plots. Measurements will be taken at various temporal and spatial scales and the standardized methods will ensure maximum comparability and extrapolation of the results from each research site placed in the major biomes and land tenure systems of Africa. It is hoped that the initial BIOTA sites will expand to form a truly international network.
During IBOY 2001-2002, the
first phase of BIOTA Africa will take place establishing the international
network of Biodiversity Observatories for long-term observation, mapping
vegetation, assessing basic biodiversity parameters and functioning. This
will build a foundation for the second phase (2003-2004) that will include
the socio-economic component.
The activities, findings and products of BIOTA -Africa will be published
on-line on the BIOTA-Africa website,
in the program's newsletter, and in reports and peer reviewed publications.
Recent and upcoming Activities
Meetings to develop standardized monitoring of biodiversity:
Regional Workshops:
International Meetings:
This project is improving reliability of and access to data on recent species extinctions.
Reliable information on species extinction is a vital tool for assessing the status of biodiversity and ecosystems, for identifying the most threatened taxonomic groups and habitats, and for identifying threats and priority conservation and research activities. However, existing global surveys of extinct species produced by various conservation organizations can sometimes be insufficient and unreliable when taxonomic data is faulty, evidence is undocumented and imprecise criteria are used to determine extinctions. Such data can undermine conservation efforts.
The purpose of the Committee on Recently Extinct Organisms (CREO) is to foster improved understanding of species extinctions that have occurred in recent times. During the IBOY, CREO has published and will expand an online prototype extinction database documenting extinctions that have occurred from 1500. The CREO database will promote a more structured and more consistent method of extinction analysis.
Seventy-four scientists from 24 countries provided advice in developing criteria for evaluating possible extinctions. Reported extinctions of mammals and fish were evaluated according to these criteria, and in June 2001 the evaluated extinction information was published on an on-line prototype database. Evaluations of bird and reptile extinctions will be added during the IBOY. The database contains searchable fields on taxonomy, date of extinction, evidence for extinction, habitat and range and possible cause of extinction. Additional information will be available in searchable notation and reference fields. The database will be continuously expanded as more existing data is compiled and new data becomes available. Ultimately, a more sophisticated database should be developed to ensure that the CREO extinction data can be fully adapted and integrated for a variety of needs, for example, being made interoperable with the IUCN Red List.
CREO is also engaging in outreach activities to raise awareness of species extinction and the research that seeks to document them. A twelve-minute video about a search for a putatively extinct catfish in Colombia was made and has been shown at various meetings, educational/media symposia, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and schools' workshops. The video and an accompanying multi-media web-based production have been presented at the AMNH Hall of Biodiversity and will soon be accessible from the AMNH Biobulletins public website.
Articles
--Ross McPhee and Ian Harrison
| An international network of over 3000 scientists, called the Declining Amphibian Population Task Force (DAPTF), are working to find out why amphibian populations across the world are in trouble and how to conserve them. During IBOY, DAPTF will release their findings in three major publications. |  |
Amphibian populations across
the world are showing an alarming decline. Since the phenomenon was first
reported in 1989, research has shown that the declines are even more pervasive
and serious than had been feared. As many as a third of the world’s
species of frogs, salamanders and caecilians may face extinction within
the next 20 years unless immediate action is taken to preserve threatened
habitats and understand other causes of population decline and disappearance.
Tragically, the well-documented decline in the word’s amphibians
comes at the same time as biologists realize they have grossly underestimated
the diversity of amphibians worldwide. New species of amphibians are being
described at the rate of nearly 2% a year and there is the possibility
that many species will become extinct before they can be scientifically
described and named.
Scientists are anxious to: (1) assess the extent and cause of the declines, (2) understand the implications for ecosystem and human health, and global change, and (3) improve amphibian conservation. The Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force (DAPTF) was established in 1991 by the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to promote and sponsor original research and synthesize state of the art knowledge to address these issues. DAPTF seeks to work increasingly in developing countries, especially in tropical regions, where amphibian diversity is the highest and declines among the most severe.
In 2001-2002, three major products to increase understanding and awareness of declining amphibian populations will be completed:
DAPTF is also negotiating an agreement between the U.S. National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) and the Harvard Museum of Natural History to produce a Traveling Exhibit on Amphibian Declines for circulation in 2002-2003.
Radio
February
27-28, 2002, Pulse of the Planet will air a series of interviews with
Dr. Jim Hanken, about DAPTF
Upcoming Event
Declining Amphibians: On the
Verge of an Environmental Catastrophe - Lecture and Reception with Dr.
James Hanken, May 9, 2002 at the Harvard
Museum of Natural History.
-- Tim Halliday, James Hanken
This multidisciplinary conference focused on progress in detecting and understanding of long-term changes in natural and disturbed environmental systems. It reviewed methods of environmental change detection across different disciplines by bringing together scientists and stakeholders concerned with monitoring in terrestrial, freshwater, marine, hydrological, atmospheric, and social systems. Biodiversity was a key element of the conference program. The conference also covered the general need for observing systems that address the requirements of major international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Objectives of conference were:
The key messages emerging from the conference:
-- Terry Parr and Rick Battarbee
DIWPA-IBOY - Biodiversity Assessment Program in the Western Pacific and Asia Region (website)
2001 saw the launch of a three-year biodiversity assessment program across the Western Pacific and Asia, coordinated by DIVERSITAS in Western Pacific and Asia (DIWPA). The research area spans a latitudinal gradient where a zone of humid climate spans from the far north (Siberia) to the south (New Zealand) supporting an area of unusually high biodiversity and productivity. The area is also experiencing rapid economic expansion and ecosystem change.
Recent international agreements and strategies including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Agenda 21, and the Global Biodiversity Assessment have called for increased inventorying and monitoring of biodiversity, and collaboration across nations to answer large scale questions about biodiversity and its management.
Approximately 30 core sites, plus other satellite research sites in forest, coastal and freshwater ecosystems across more than 20 countries and areas are collaborating and using standardized comparable protocols to assess biodiversity within and across sites. The primary focus of DIWPA-IBOY assessment is to assess a North-South latitudinal gradient, and to work in close collaboration with the Pacific Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA), who are assessing biodiversity of islands in an East-West transect, to explore issues of island biogeography. At each site, data on biodiversity, environmental parameters (including anthropogenic parameters) and ecological processes (functioning) will be measured according to standardized methodologies.
The DIWPA-IBOY sites will:
A wealth of new knowledge about biodiversity can be expected from DIWPA-IBOY. For example, large numbers of new species are anticipated. DIWPA-IBOY scientists predict that more than 30% of the tropical forest insects caught by a light trap could be un-described species. New information on the geographical distribution of biodiversity in the region, including biodiversity hotspots will be generated. The results from DIWPA-IBOY will:
Preliminary results and special findings from DIWPA-IBOY will be made available throughout 2001 and 2002 as they arise. More comprehensive findings will be announced in 2003 at the Pacific Science Congress in Bangkok and in 2005 at a special Asian-Pacific Biodiversity Summit. An international symposium is being planned for the end of 2003 to announce the early findings of DIWPA-IBOY.
During 2000 intensive preparations for this unprecedented biodiversity assessment took place, including
Recent and upcoming activities in 2001-2002 include:
Further Reading
To understand and manage human impacts on biodiversity, anthropogenic effects must be separated from natural cyclicity of diversity. In 2001 and 2002, scientists across Europe will collaborate in DYNAMO, to examine patterns of change in biodiversity in space and time.
DYNAMO will use data on the diversity and distribution of current and fossil ostracods (small freshwater crustaceans) to examine spatial and temporal patterns of diversity. Ostracods are ideally suited to this study since they have an abundant fossil record preserved in situ, allowing direct comparison between fossil and living assemblages, and there is sound taxonomic and ecological baseline data for the study of extant populations.
The project will analyze ostracod data from lake basins, through the developmental stages of lakes from formation to residual ponds and wetlands. This sequence of species assemblages through the developmental stages of lakes can be followed in the quaternary fossil record and by comparisons among current lakes. Three intensive sampling programs in 2001 and 2002 will collect data, which will be added to existing data in the European ostracod diversity database (NODE). The genetic and phenotypic diversity and the phylogenies of ostracods will be determined across space and time, from lakes of different stages of development, and subject to different degrees of seasonal and temporal variation and human impact.
Preliminary results will be available from late 2001, including new databases on fossil, morphological and genetic diversity of freshwater ostracods. New phylogenies will be constructed to better understand the evolutionary history of the group.
The ultimate products will include publication of a methodology to monitor extant diversity changes against a background of natural cyclicity using non-marine ostracods as a model group. The methodology will be published on CD-ROM and distributed to decision makers and managers relating to freshwater biodiversity. Important new information will also be published describing the natural influences on the dynamics of freshwater ostracod diversity against which anthropogenic effects can reliably be distinguished.
Biodiversity cannot be comprehensively inventoried, monitored and managed within geopolitical boundaries, but requires international cooperation across the scales relevant to the species' range. Never is this more apparant than for migratory species. At present there are several international monitoring programs and numerous national observation programs collecting data on migratory species. But these are not coordinated.
During 2000 data from existing projects on migratory species world-wide were coordinated into a Global Registry of Migratory Species (GROMS). GROMS summarized knowledge on migratory species in a relational database in combination with a geographical information system (GIS). The information is now available on-line and in a CD-ROM to a broad audience including researchers, managers and the public. The GROMS database will support the Convention on Migratory Species and contribute to the Clearinghouse Mechanism under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
To avoid duplication of efforts, and to ensure an optimal data exchange, the GROMS liaised with all other bioinformatics projects relevant for migratory species, either by direct data exchange, or connecting resources using web technologies. A meeting, hosted by Bonn University and the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species, was convened to discuss options for these linkages, May 6, 2002.
From 2003 on, the database will be handed over to the Bonn secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species and will potentially be maintained by a consortium consisting of Bonn University, The German Centre for Documentation and Information in Agriculture (ZADI), and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Links to Satellite tracking initiatives which display and monitor animal migration are at http://www.biologie.uni-freiburg.de/data/riede/linksgen.html
New species fact sheets are available - click here
Publications
Impacts of Biological Invasions (website)
During 2001 and 2002, an international network will share and synthesize data on invasive species to better understand the global extent of species invasions and their impact on ecosystem functioning for plants, vertebrates and soil invertebrates.
Ever increasing international trade and travel is accelerating rates of species invasions into novel ecosystems, which is a major cause of global change. Species invasions are considered the second greatest threat to biodiversity, next to habitat loss. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Program Global Change in Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) has launched an initiative to assess the susceptibility of terrestrial ecosystems to invasions. It will provide important information for managers to fight the global invasive species problem.
On September 19-22, 2001, an international meeting in Barcelona, Spain, gathered researchers together to pool their datasets for a global assessment of the rates, geographical extent and ecological impacts of invasive species. The meeting included plenary sessions to present the latest information from different ecosystems, followed by parallel workshops to review the status of datasets including the gaps in data and database requirements for global analyses. Overarching frameworks to describe the conditions that would influence extent and impact of invasions were also generated.
The results of the workshop will be published in refereed papers on:
Further Reading
Radio
--Montse Vila, Mark Lonsdale, Pep Canadell, Richard Mack
Recovery of coral reef biodiversity following bleaching: International Coral Reef Observation Year
An important question concerning coral reef biodiversity is how well reefs have recovered following widespread bleaching and death of corals, caused by extremely hot weather around the world's tropical oceans in 1998.
During 2001 and 2002, scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) and the Florida Institute of Oceanography are leading the IBOY project to assess recovery of coral reef biodiversity following bleaching. The basis of the coral reef project is a questionnaire (http://www.reefbase.org/input/bleachingquestionaire/index.asp) to researchers. It attempts to provide a better understanding of the patchiness in both incidence and severity of coral bleaching. Following the 1998 event, numerous astute observers noted several related but sometimes contradictory things: in large ocean areas that had been severely impacted, there were places of high coral survival: in areas with relatively minor impact at the regional scale, there were local places with major death of corals. Much of the Indian Ocean was an example of the former: the Great Barrier Reef was an example of the latter. The factors associated with high survival appeared to be related to features of geographic setting that tend to ameliorate heating though mixing, and light stress through shading (see Tables 1 and 2). However for each anecdotal account of high survival in such and such conditions, there were others of low survival. Clearly, there are issues of the species and genotypic composition of the target coral community, and of adaptation, acclimatization, and acclimation to be resolved. The questionnaire attempts to untangle some of these complex issues. The questionnaire is open until September 2002, after which the data will be analyzed at AIMS and
The results of the questionnaire will be circulated to respondents and published as part of the report “Status of the coral reefs of the world,” to be produced by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network under the guidance of editor Clive Wilkinson of AIMS. The Report will be released at the second International Tropical Ecosystem Management Symposium, Manila, The Philippines, November 2002.
Further Reading:
Further information:
--Terry Done and John Ogden
Last updated December 4, 2002
IBOY took place during 2001 and 2002 and is now completed. Information on the projects, activities and products that took place during IBOY are available on these pages. Many of the projects are still continuing their research and education activities and links to their homepages can be found on the project pages.
For more information on on-going activities of IBOY's parent organization, DIVERSITAS, see http://www.icsu.org/DIVERSITAS
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