Century-Old Ocean Research Sites Could Hold Key to Global Marine Monitoring

Our analysis reveals that the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network includes more than 100 coastal and marine research sites worldwide, some with observation records stretching back to the early 1900s. We conducted a comprehensive SWOT analysis examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing this global network of 44 countries and more than 700 research sites.

We found that the network measures a broad variety of abiotic and biotic variables that could feed into global ocean observation initiatives. Some of our coastal and marine sites have data records that predate ILTER's formal establishment in 1993. The ILTER community has developed tools to compare methods and allow data integration, though putting open data principles into practice remains challenging at most member networks and individual sites.

What emerged was both encouraging and sobering. While individual sites collect valuable data, harmonizing these measurements remains a challenge. We found that many sites operate in relative isolation, missing opportunities for coordinated observation. The Global Ocean Observing System has recognized a critical imbalance between physical and biological observations in most ocean monitoring systems.

"The Global Ocean Observing System has recognized a critical imbalance between physical and biological observations in most ocean monitoring systems."

This matters because our coastal and marine sites are uniquely positioned to fill this gap, focusing on consequences of biodiversity alteration, productivity changes, and cumulative impacts of multiple stressors including overfishing and ocean acidification. The length of observations at many sites enhances opportunities to document global change over decades.

Our network's commitment to free and open data sharing following F.A.I.R principles offers hope, but implementation gaps remain. Strengthening coordination among sites and with external initiatives will be crucial to maximize their potential for addressing present and future challenges in ocean observations.

Citation

Muelbert, José H.; Nidzieko, Nicholas J.; Acosta, Alicia T. R.; Beaulieu, Stace E.; Bernardino, Angelo F.; Boikova, Elmira; Bornman, Thomas G.; Cataletto, Bruno; Deneudt, Klaas; Eliason, Erika; Kraberg, Alexandra; Nakaoka, Masahiro; Pugnetti, Alessandra; Ragueneau, Olivier; Scharfe, Mirco; Soltwedel, Thomas; Sosik, Heidi M.; Stanisci, Angela; Stefanova, Kremena; Stéphan, Pierre; Stier, Adrian; Wikner, Johan; Zingone, Adriana (2019). ILTER – The International Long-Term Ecological Research Network as a Platform for Global Coastal and Ocean Observation. Frontiers in Marine Science.

Read the full paper

This paper is Open Access.