The Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

OBIS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System) is a database of global marine animal and plant distributions. Like an old-fashioned coffee-table atlas of distributions, it is designed to hold information about where species have been found. However, unlike a printed range map, OBIS allows users to produce individualized output tables and maps for the species, geographic locations, and environmental factors of interest. The goal is a tool to describe global and regional patterns of diversity in the oceans, and to form a better basis for investigation of global biodiversity.

At present, the OBIS database structure has been designed, and is being tested on several initial data sets. Over the weeks to come, the OBIS design will be improved, and more data sets will be solicited and incorporated.
 
 

General Questions:

• How did this project idea originate?
• How is this system set up, and what can it do
• What types of data are used in the system?
• What kind of output does the system generate?
• Who is working on this project?
• Who has contributed data and advice to this project?