Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2010 Aug 2;5(8):e11914. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011914.
Marine biodiversity of the United States (U.S.) is extensively documented, but data assembled by the United States National Committee for the Census of Marine Life demonstrate that even the most complete taxonomic inventories are based on records scattered in space and time. The best-known taxa are those of commercial importance. Body size is directly correlated with knowledge of a species, and knowledge also diminishes with distance from shore and depth. Measures of biodiversity other than species diversity, such as ecosystem and genetic diversity, are poorly documented. Threats to marine biodiversity in the U.S. are the same as those for most of the world: overexploitation of living resources; reduced water quality; coastal development; shipping; invasive species; rising temperature and concentrations of carbon dioxide in the surface ocean, and other changes that may be consequences of global change, including shifting currents; increased number and size of hypoxic or anoxic areas; and increased number and duration of harmful algal blooms. More information must be obtained through field and laboratory research and monitoring that involve innovative sampling techniques (such as genetics and acoustics), but data that already exist must be made accessible. And all data must have a temporal component so trends can be identified. As data are compiled, techniques must be developed to make certain that scales are compatible, to combine and reconcile data collected for various purposes with disparate gear, and to automate taxonomic changes. Information on biotic and abiotic elements of the environment must be interactively linked. Impediments to assembling existing data and collecting new data on marine biodiversity include logistical problems as well as shortages in finances and taxonomic expertise.
美国的海洋生物多样性有广泛的记录，但美国国家海洋生命普查委员会汇编的数据表明，即使是最完整的分类学清单，也是基于分散在空间和时间上的记录。最知名的分类群是那些具有商业重要性的分类群。体型大小与物种知识直接相关，而知识也随着离海岸的距离和深度的增加而减少。除物种多样性外，衡量生物多样性的其他指标，如生态系统和遗传多样性，记录较差。美国海洋生物多样性面临的威胁与世界大多数地区的威胁相同：过度开发生物资源；水质下降；沿海开发；航运；入侵物种；海水表面温度和二氧化碳浓度升高，以及可能是全球变化后果的其他变化，包括洋流变化；缺氧或无氧区的数量和规模增加；以及有害藻类大量繁殖的次数和持续时间增加。必须通过涉及创新采样技术（如遗传学和声学）的现场和实验室研究和监测来获取更多信息，但必须使现有的数据能够获取。而且所有数据都必须具有时间成分，以便确定趋势。随着数据的编制，必须开发技术来确保尺度兼容，将为各种目的收集的具有不同装备的数据进行组合和协调，并使分类学变化自动化。环境中的生物和非生物要素的信息必须进行交互式链接。在收集海洋生物多样性现有数据和新数据方面存在的障碍包括后勤问题以及资金和分类学专业知识的短缺。
