Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ)
Planktonic organisms dominate the oceans in terms of abundance and biomass, and are exceptional in their widespread, frequently circumglobal, biogeographic distributions. Despite decades of sampling the oceans, comprehensive understanding of plankton biodiversity has eluded oceanographers because of the fragility, rarity, small size, and/or systematic complexity of many taxa. Many planktonic groups remain poorly known and problematical for taxonomic and systematic studies, with long-standing questions of species identification, systematic relationships, and biogeography.
The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) will work toward a taxonomically comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world oceans to produce accurate and complete information on zooplankton species diversity, biomass, biogeographical distribution, genetic diversity, and community structure by 2010. The taxonomic focus is the animals that drift with ocean currents throughout their lives (i.e., the holozooplankton). This assemblage currently includes ~6,800 described species in fifteen phyla, with the expectation is that at least that many new species will be discovered as a result of CMarZ. The census will encompass unique marine environments and those likely to be inhabited by endemic and undescribed zooplankton species. The plan focuses on new and emerging technologies including molecular, optical, and acoustical imaging, and remote detection, initially focused on DNA barcoding of existing specimen collections to identify cryptic species among cosmopolitan groups. This project, therefore, has strong ties to the Barcode of Life initiative.
For more information, please visit the CMarZ website.
CMarZ Project Team
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Reports and Other Documents
Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) Science Plan (Version 28 July 2004), Prepared by the participants of a Census of Marine Life planning workshop for a CENSUS of the PLANKTON Portsmouth, NH, USA, 17–22 March 2004
Workshop Agenda (17-22 March 2004)
