Assessing trends in species richness and abundance of intertidal and near shore subtidal communities over time

The HMAP/NaGISA initiative History of the Near Shore (HNS) is aimed at treating specific historically rich near shore habitats with a combination of NaGISA protocols and HMAP methods. HNS is specifically attempting to identify specific local sites from which historical records of biodiversity are available and resample them under the auspices of the NaGISA project, thus including them in the NaGISA global near shore database and including them in ongoing monitoring efforts all while creating a network of historical near shore researchers and peers.

HNS got underway with an open call for proposals in November 2006. Five of the fifteen applicants were successful and have been funded for 1 to 2 years. The HNS sites are include macroalgal, seagrass, rodolith bed and muddy bottom habitats in Canada, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The deadline for the second open call for proposals is November 1st 2007.

Interested parties or those already pursuing studies in the history of near shore biodiversity are encouraged to contact us and join the HNS mailing list for information on related workshops, conferences and/or assistance in the critical evaluation of the project as it develops.

Current HNS Projects

• Temporal change in species diversity in a megatidal estuary (Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, Canada

  PIs Glenys Gibson, Anna Redden Sherman Boates & J. Serman Bleakney

  Acadia Universiy

• Assessing Intertidal Macroinvertebrate Communities of Cobscook Bay and the Maine Coast, USA

  PI Thomas J. Trott

  Suffolk University

• Long-term changes in distribution and abundance of rocky shore biota around South Africa, 1940-2007

  PI Charles Griffiths

  University of Cape Town

• Rescuing and resampling comprehensive community level datasets from around the United Kingdom

  PIs Patricia Masterson & Stephen J. Hawkins

  The Marine Biological Association of the UK

• Sargassum forest associated biodiversity from the Gulf of California, Mexico

  PIs Litzia P. Chávez, Gustavo H. Carmona & Rafael R. Rodríguez

  Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur

HNS Proposals

An abstract and outline is all that is needed to put forward an idea and or to establish a working relationship with HNS. If you wish to request financial assistance or become a HNS project then an Introduction and Budget are also necessary. See Proposal Instructions.

HNS Contacts

History Officer: Anne H. Marboe

Sceince Officer: Yoshihisa Shirayama