Workshop preparation
Online biodiversity repository
The biodiversity workshop requires some preparation ahead of the symposium. Completing this work in advance will allow us to focus our time during the workshop on reviewing the data we have collated and planning the related publication.
The intent is to establish an online repository of species distributions and richness, summarised as species presence at an ecoregion level. We can then all use this as a living online reference, and as the basis for (1) a paper on global beach biodiversity (discussed at the conference), (2) iNaturalist project(s), and (3) species red listing. We can also use the planned online tools (interactive maps, filterable tables) to promote beaches as diverse ecosystems.
Please add as many records as you can to the Excel spreadsheet. Start by focusing on regions you are familiar with. After that, look for gaps in coverage, search for papers and reports, verified/correct iNaturalist records, and verified/correct gbif records, and record species presence in the various ecoregions.
iNaturalist project
The data from iNaturalist are exceptionally valuable for red listing and species distribution modelling, and this platform is an excellent way to use citizen science to detect species range shifts. A project for macrofauna has been started for our scientific community: Sandy Beach Invertebrates (Global). The species list is not comprehensive - yet; it is a starting point.
Although this is helpful but not essential for the symposium workshop, you’re encouraged to join and promote iNaturalist, contribute records, and work through taxa of interest in our project to check they have been identified correctly.
Species will be added to this project based on the species list created in the Excel spreadsheet. (The intent is to expand the scope of our iNaturalist projects to include other taxa as well, like foredune plants, shorebirds, etc. We can discuss this at ISBS10.)
