Study on the Expression of Spatiotemporal Patterns in Marine Ecosystems

Abstract The ocean is a three-dimensional ecosystem with a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, thus making the visual expression of marine ecological characteristics extremely challenging. What types of marine ecosystems exist in a region, where are they distributed, what is their current status, and what are their changing trends? These are important questions faced by marine managers and decision makers. Based on the analysis of the relationship between biology and environment, this paper conducts ecological classification and data production for various marine elements. This paper expresses spatiotemporal marine ecological characteristics using a four-level general framework, including sea zone, bathymetry space, water space, seabed space. The bathymetry reflects the relevant marine topographic and landscape characteristics, and the water space and seabed space are composed of water environment, sediment environment and living organisms respectively. The framework’s main functions are the display, description, and statistical analysis of ecological characteristics, and display the spatiotemporal distribution pattern. These methods were combined with the construction of a database and R&D of system functions to fill the gap in this field in China and provide decision support for marine ecosystem management.