Marine Biodiversity

Introduction

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, biodiversity is defined as “the variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.” Such line of description not only includes diversity of species but also of natural habitats. Because of technological shortcomings, natural habitats of underwater are not yet fully discovered. Nonetheless, the underwater environment can be partitioned into two different realms: the photic zone and the aphotic zone. The photic habitat refers to the shallower areas of the ocean. Generally speaking, anywhere from ground level down to 200 meters in depth is regarded as photic

The effects of fisheries and excessive exploitation of the top predators and herbivores of the marine food web are conspicuously seen in the extinctions of sharks, turtles, whales, and other marine organisms. Statistics suggest that humans are currently exploiting over 400 species as food resources from the marine ecosystem. Exploitation of marine biodiversity is far less regulated by international conventions than on land and continuous advancements in technology is also aiding such deplorable actions. Global climate change has consequently caused an unprecedented mass movement of species to temperate regions near the two poles. Constant acidification of the ocean reduced the pH level of sea water and therefore buffered myriad of organisms from properly carrying out biological processes necessary for their survival. Uncontrollable spread of pollutants in marine food chains is also yielding consequences that are now noxious to the

The need for extended exploration is exemplified by programs such as the Census of Marine Life, a worldwide effort to explore and understand the biodiversity of the oceans. An important product of marine biodiversity research should be the necessary knowledge and tools for adequately managing and protecting marine biodiversity. This requires knowledge on genetic and ecological mechanisms that control biodiversity (gene flow, dispersal, adaptive value of genetic polymorphisms, determination of dispersal and recruitment, species interactions including invasions, sediment transport, natural and human-induced catastrophes, etc.). Support of conservation and sustainable exploitation of biodiversity will require development of rapid assessment techniques for monitoring marine biodiversity (genes, species and biotopes), including the use of molecular techniques, rapid identification techniques, assessment of difficult species (microbes, sibling species, multispecies complexes), pictural taxonomic and identification keys accessible on the World Wide Web and CD-ROM, remote sensing techniques (Satellite Imagery, Side Scan Sonar, multibeam, LIDAR, etc.). It must also provide for the development of data bases and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for genes, species and