Introduction
The CZCP is considering to foster a water quality community of practice, which would overlap considerably with the CZCP. Several Action Items resulting for the Core-Group Meeting on August 27-28, 2013 are related to this plan (see meeting page for more information on the meeting.
Excerpt from PICO report:
Implementation of an integrated global ocean observing system of systems for marine ecosystems must occur on at least two fronts: (1) efficiently linking observations and models to build end-to-end systems based on user needs and (2) implementing and linking national and regional scale observing systems to build a global system of systems.
Given that this will take a decade or more, phased implementation is recommended beginning with the integration of end-to-end systems for selected phenomena of interest: Coastal Eutrophication and Hypoxia; Human Exposure to Waterborne Pathogens; Harmful Algal Blooms; Habitat Loss & Modification; Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding; Ocean Acidification; and, Food Security.
Guided by the latest recommendations of expert panels, a short list of high priority ecosystems states to target was determined based on (1) the extent to which changes in states are occurring globally in response to specific pressures (Chapter 1); (2) the importance such changes to achieving the goals of international conventions and laws (Annex I); and (3) their relevance to changes in the Human Development Index (Chapter 2) and to the regular process of marine ecosystem assessments (Table 2). Relative to the above phenomena of interest, the following priority indicators of ecosystem states (ecosystem health) meet these criteria and were identified as targets for specifying observing system requirements:
- Phytoplankton biomass and oxygen fields,
- Distribution and abundance of waterborne pathogens,
- Distribution and abundance of toxic phytoplankton,
- Spatial extent of benthic biological habitats,
- Ecological buffers to coastal flooding
- Distribution and condition of calcareous organisms, and
- Distribution and abundance of exploitable fish stocks.
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