The National Research Council will host a one-time meeting of experts of the U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) program, and others to highlight the scientific contributions of GLOBEC and identify future research directions.
U.S. GLOBEC is a component of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The U.S. GLOBEC program was designed to explore the effects of global change on marine ecosystems. The research involved scientists from multiple disciplines including oceanography, marine ecology, and fishery science. The program interfaces with researchers in other nations through the International GLOBEC program. Support from NSF (lead), NOAA, and NASA were instrumental to the success of this 20-year research program.
The stated objective of the U.S. GLOBEC program is "to understand how climate change and variability will translate into changes in the structure and dynamics of marine ecosystems and in fishery production." Recognizing both the ecological and economic importance of fisheries, the U.S. has been moving towards incorporating ecosystem-based approaches into fisheries management. A key component of ensuring sustainable levels of fish harvest is to understand and anticipate the effects of climate and global change on fish populations, as well as on their predators and prey. In response to atmospheric warming, rising ocean water temperatures, and melting sea ice, these new climate conditions are anticipated to affect oceanographic features such as currents, depth of the mixed layer, and upwelling zones - all features that can affect the productivity and localized abundance of fish populations.
The U.S. GLOBEC research strategy combined process and observational studies with retrospective analysis of previously collected data sets to develop and refine models using both physical and biological parameters. The U.S. GLOBEC program selected study sites to represent ecosystems under different physical regimes: retentive circulation at an offshore shoal (Georges Bank), coastal upwelling (Oregon and Northern California); coastal downwelling, affected by winds and freshwater inputs (Coastal Gulf of Alaska); and shelf circulation and sea ice (the West Antarctic Peninsula region).
In addition to scientific knowledge, U.S. GLOBEC has established a legacy of datasets, coupled models, and practical information for ecosystem-based management of living marine resources. Three grand synthesis themes have been identified: Climate impacts on ecosystems, population dynamics in an ecosystem context, and ecosystem dynamics and food webs.
The broader impacts involve bringing invited experts together to discuss the scientific contributions of the U.S. GLOBEC program, and identify promising avenues for future research programs. The audience will include staff from the sponsoring agency (NSF), other agencies involved in the U.S. GLOBEC program (predominantly NASA and NOAA), the scientific research community, congressional staff, nongovernmental organizations, and science journalists. The meeting will be an opportunity to synthesize and summarize research findings and advances in understanding that for the legacy of the U.S. GLOBEC program.
Outcomes Report U.S. GLOBEC, a component of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, was designed to explore the effects of global change on marine ecosystems. The research involved scientists from multiple disciplines including oceanography, marine ecology, and fishery science. The U.S. program interfaced with researchers in other nations through the International GLOBEC program. Support from NSF (lead), NOAA, and NASA were instrumental to the success of this 20-year research program. The objective of the U.S. GLOBEC program was "to understand how climate change and variability will translate into changes in the structure and dynamic of marine ecosystems and in fishery production." Recognizing both the ecological and economic importance of fisheries, the U.S. has been moving towards incorporating ecosystem-based approaches into fisheries management. A key component of ensuring sustainable levels of fish harvest is to understand and anticipate the effects of climate and global change on fish populations, as well as on their predators and prey. In response to atmospheric warming, rising ocean water temperatures, and melting sea ice, these new climate conditions are anticipated to affect oceanographic features such as currents, depth of the mixed layer, and upwelling zones - all features that can affect the productivity and localized abundance of fish populations. The GLOBEC research strategy combined process and observational studies with retrospective analysis of previously collected data sets to develop and refine models using both physical and biological parameters. The U.S. GLOBEC program selected study sites to represent ecosystems under different physical regimes: retentive circulation at an offshore shoal (Georges Bank), coastal upwelling (Oregon and Northern California); coastal downwelling, affected by winds and freshwater inputs (Coastal Gulf of Alaska); and shelf circulation and sea ice (the West Antarctic Peninsula region). In addition to scientific knowledge, GLOBEC has established a legacy of datasets, coupled models, and practical information for ecosystem-based management of living marine resources. Three grand synthesis themes have been identified: Climate impacts on ecosystems, population dynamics in an ecosystem context, and ecosystem dynamics and food webs. The goal of this project was to convene experts for a final symposium and to provide agency staff and scientists with the opportunity to learn from a final synthesis of the major contributions of U.S. GLOBEC to understanding and anticipating alterations in marine ecosystems in response to climate change and to participate in discussions of experts on potential new research directions. The expert meeting was held October 4-5, 2011, in Washington D.C. and provided an opportunity for agency staff to interact with the invited experts, discuss the scientific contributions of the GLOBEC program, and identify promising avenues for future research programs. The meeting was broadly attended including staff from the sponsoring agency (NSF) and other agencies involved in the GLOBEC program (predominantly NASA and NOAA), the scientific research community, congressional staff, nongovernmental organizations, and science journalists. Presentations at the meeting synthesized and summarized research findings and advances in understanding that for the legacy of the GLOBEC program. At the meeting it became evident that a written summery of the findings and conclusions presented at the symposium would be beneficial. The presentations and images of the final symposium were made available on the U.S. GLOBEC website. As a result, a writing meeting was hosted in Woods Hole, MA, in October 2012 to outline the content of a special issue in Oceanography. The special issue was published in December 2013 and was broadly distributed. The special issue contains a synthesis of the findings across the regions and across the disciplines and illustrates the benefits from a large-scale, multi-disciplinary research programs in advancing complex scientific issues. Link to the special issue in Oceanography: www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/26-4.html
