The Future Ocean AtlasResearch, Visualization, Outreach

Proponents: Rainer Froese, Martin Visbeck, Wilhelm WeinrebePartners: Till Requate, Alexander Proelß, Thorsten Reusch, Frank Melzner, all other PIs

A challenge for the Future Ocean Cluster of Excellence is the ‘bringing together’ of its many components in a unifying framework, the presentation of the results in an easily understood interface, and the detection of new knowledge from combination of independent results. Here we propose to address these challenges by a new cross-cutting platform which will combine the results of all Cluster projects in standardized global maps.

The Atlas will contain the current and future global maps produced by our oceanographers, geologists and meteorologists. It will show current and future species distribution maps for over 10,000 species including algae, molluscs, fish, marine mammals and sea birds. Economists will provide maps that show profitability of fishing based on the value of the exploited species and the cost of fishing at a certain locality.

Kontakt NameOrganisationAdresseAdresseE-Mailwww.ozean-der-zukunft.de

First global species richness map, for >9,000 species. www.aquamaps.org

Lawyers will show the laws, conventions, and management regimes applicable to the various parts of the ocean; the risk experts will show predictions of sea level rise, probability of volcanic activities or exposure to tsunamis; the geneticists will map parasite-host interactions and the occurrence of certain genes; and marine medicine will map the occurrence of their target organisms and of certain traits.Because the various maps will follow common standards, they can be combined to derive new insights. For example, one result can be an improved and extended ‘Global Map of Human Impacts on the Oceans’. For the interested public, the Atlas will provide a novel intuitive interface to scientific information: just click anywhere in the Ocean and see temperature, wave-height, wind, depth, species with pictures, fishing activities, ship-traffic, risks, minerals, rules and regulations.

Result of ‚click‘ in the North Sea: list of 307 species, here sorted by popularity

Map showing the polward extension of the ditributional range for Atlantic cod in 2050NCEAS Map showing human impacts on marine ecosystems, Science 2008