CeDAMar DATABASE FOR BENTHIC BIOLOGICAL SAMPLING ON THE ABYSSAL PLAINS IN THE WORLD OCEAN compiled by Carol T. Stuart

The primary objective for developing a CeDAMar database is to generate a map of biological abyssal sampling stations in the World Ocean. Over fifty percent of the World Ocean’s Seafloor is abyssal (4000-6000 m) (Menard and Smith, 1966), but there is no comprehensive synthesis of abyssal sampling.  A map will show the extent of sampling that has been conducted in abyssal plains, which will provide the information needed to synthesize abyssal biogeography, and for planning future sampling expeditions. This database is an initial effort to gather information to incorporate into a relational database under the auspices of CeDAMar.

One important task for the CeDAMar program is the data mining of  abyssal species records. Some biogeographic data have already been catalogued at different institutes like IFREMER (France), the Senckenberg Research Institute (Germany), the Smithsonian Institution (USA), and the Natural History Museum (UK). Our goal now is the construction of a database holding the information on all abysal benthic species findings deeper than 2,000 m. This geo-referenced information will then be made available to the public through a web portal equipped with mapping tools for interactive querying and map creation. The databases will be linked to meta-portals like OBIS and GBIF using standardized protocols.

Map: All published benthic species records deeper than 2 000 m gathered by CeDAMar so far 

Modern Online Tools in Biology
OBIS, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System, provides information on where and when marine species have been recorded (http://www.iobis.org). It  will ultimately hold all datasets gathered by the ‘Census of Marine Life’ projects and therefore be a very valuable tool for marine biologists.