Preparation of an Interactive Key for Northern Gulf of Mexico Polychaete Taxonomy Employing the Delta/Intkey System (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781505498776)

The seafloor subject to disturbance by outer continental oil and gas activity is home to a few thousand species. Surveys of the seafloor undertaken to make informed decisions about future development and monitoring undertaken to assure acceptable levels of impact from existing activity are heavily dependent upon sampling and correctly identifying a large fraction of that diverse fauna. Assuring correct and consistent identification of species is a difficult problem. The task requires a tremendous breadth of expertise. There is a decreasing pool of experts, and taxonomic data are not now handled and synthesized in a manner that facilitates identification. Resource management agencies such as the Minerals Management Service have made noteworthy efforts to improve taxonomic quality such as production of comprehensive faunal keys and maintainence of voucher collections. These efforts, however, have not overcome the ecological and taxonomic communities' historical lack of a focused effort to improve identification.

Author: U. S. Department of the Interior Mineral
ISBN-10: 1505498775
ISBN-13: 9781505498776
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 01/03/2015
Pages: 52
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.32lbs
Size: 11.02h x 8.50w x 0.11d