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Census of Marine Life (CoML)
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Ransom Myers fonds

  • MS-2-179
  • Fonds
  • 1977-2007
Fonds consists of records pertaining primarily to the professional activities of Ransom Myers and the major organizations and projects with which he was affiliated during his career as Killam Oceans Chair at Dalhousie University; there are also records created during his doctoral studies and his tenure as a research scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The collection includes correspondence, draft manuscripts, offprints, conference and association materials, presentations, course and teaching materials, litigation and consultancy records (including affidavits and invoices), photographs, annotated research materials, press collected about Myers’ work or pertaining to his research, student files, datasets and web content.

Myers, Ransom Aldrich Jr.

Ron O'Dor fonds

  • MS-2-778
  • Fonds
  • 1965-2019
Fonds contains records created and collected by Ronald O'Dor in the course of his work as a marine biologist based at Dalhousie University, predominantly materials generated by the two major research projects: Census of Marine Life (CoML) and Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). Record types include research data, teaching materials, publications, manuscripts, correspondence, and committee and meeting minutes.

O'Dor, Ronald

CReefs: Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs). The Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems project conducted a thorough examination of the sorts of life found in the world’s coral reefs, discovering thousands of new species in the process while placing known species in new locales. The project, headed up by Americans Nancy Knowlton and Russell Brainard and Australian scientist Julian Caley, developed a tool called the Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure to provided standardized examination of species distribution, warming temperatures and oceanic acidification at reef locations throughout the world.

ChESS: Biogeography of Deep Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Biogeography of Deep Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChESS). The Biogeography of Deep Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems project explored life in the hostile, acidic, oftentimes hot and corrosive deep-sea seeps and hydrothermal vents, where life thrives away from any sunlight. The project, led by British scientists Paul Tyler and Maria Baker, American scientist Chris German, and Spanish scientist Eva Ramirez-Llodr, examined more than 1000 species and expanded ranges further north, south, and deeper than had previously been explored.

COMARGE: Continental Margin Ecosystems on a Worldwide Scale

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Continental Margin Ecosystems on a Worldwide Scale (COMARGE). The Continental Margin Ecosystem on a Worldwide Scale project examined life on the continental slopes, over the course of 60 expeditions. The project, led by French scientists Myrian Sibuet and Lenaick Menot and American scientist Robert Carney, discovered stretches of life flourishing on these marginal spaces (including heretofore unknown coral reefs off Africa). The project also examined the threat posed by oil and gas drilling on these sensitive stretches of seafloor.

FMAP: Future of Marine Animal Populations

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Future of Marine Animal Populations (FMAP). The Future of Marine Animal Populations project analyzed fishing data and scientific surveys to determine changes in diversity and distribution of marine life. The project, headed by Canadian scientists Ian Jonsen, Heike Lotze, and Boris Worm (and previously by Ransom Myers), identified hot spots of diversity drawn from the Census of Marine Life database and changes in water temperature as one of the most integral determinants in the shaping of marine diversity patterns, while confirming that marine conservation helps to correct the rapid population declines associated with over-exploitation of marine stocks.

ArcOD: Arctic Ocean Diversity

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee, Arctic Ocean Diversity (ArcOD). The Arctic Ocean Diversity project was designed to catalogue animal species and microbes found in the Arctic region—on, in and under the sea ice, in deep basins and along the continental shelves. The project was led by American scientists Bodil Bluhm, Rolf Gradinger and Russ Hopcroft, who sought to document the northward extensions of ranges of Arctic fish and invertebrates.

CMarZ: Census of Marine Zooplankton

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ). The Census of Marine Zooplankton project examined the diversity and distribution of ocean current-residing invertebrates. The project, led by American scientist Ann Bucklin, Japanese scientist Shuhei Nishida and German scientist Sigrid Schiels, collected more than 10,000 samples from locations around the world’s oceans, discovering nearly 100 new species.

MAR-ECO: Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystem of the Northern Mid-Atlantic

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystem of the Northern Mid-Atlantic (MAR-ECO). The Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the Northern Mid-Atlantic project documented marine life along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The project, led by Norwegian scientist Odd Aksel Bergstad, documented about a thousand species, from the smallest invertebrates to various species of whales, in deep basins and along the slopes of the underwater mountains.

OBIS: Ocean Biogeographic Information System

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life affiliate program, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). The Ocean Biogeographic Information System project, compiled alongside the Census of Marine Life, serves as the world's largest online repository of spatially referenced marine life data, containing millions of records created from hundreds of CoML datasets. The project, led by American scientists Edward Vanden Berghe and J. Frederick Grassle (previously by New Zealander Mark J. Costello), locates all oceanic species in a permanent, evolving repository, identifying oceanic points of high diversity, tracking species dispersion, and integrating species locales with variables such as temperature, salinity, and depth.

Census of Marine Life (CoML)

Series contains research files, correspondence, conference meeting minutes and notes compiled by Ron O'Dor and other members of the Census of Marine Life steering committee and subcommittees.

HMAP: History of Marine Animal Populations

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP). The History of Marine Animal Populations project traces evidence of how human activity and nature have changed marine life in recent years. The project, led by Irish scientist Paul Holm, Danish scientists Brian MacKenzie, Anne Husum Marboe and Bo Poulsen, and American Andrew Rosenberg, examined the prevalence of shell jewellery, evidence found in whaling logs, fishing boats' taxation logs, historical storm records, and numerous other primary and secondary sources, documenting humanity’s destruction of marine habitats, fish stocks and invertebrate populations.

POST: Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (POST). The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking project provided the first continent-wide research to acoustically track the migratory patterns of 18 species of marine life familiar to the Pacific coast. The project, led by American-Canadian scientist James Bolger, examined the migratory patterns of salmon, jumbo squid, sturgeon, and other coastal marine life, gathering data on roughly 16,000 individuals. The project served as a smaller-scale precursor of the Ocean Tracking Network.

TOPP: Tagging of Pacific Predators

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP). The Tagging of Pacific Predators project electronically tagged and tracked 4300 different marine predators, including sharks, seals and seabirds, tracing routes taken by these species in their search for ocean prey. The project, headed by American scientists Barbara Black, Steven Bograd, Daniel Costa and Randy Kochevar, discovered that many animals travel entire oceans at a variety of depths, from the poles to the tropics, continent to continent, in the search for food. It was also discovered that many predatory marine creatures migrate along the same oceanic corridors, congregating along their feeding routes.

Management and administration of the Census of Marine Life

Subseries contains records related to the management of the Census of Marine Life in general. File includes membership rolls, general budgeting information, Loan applications, meeting minutes, and CoML-related news and promotional information.

CAML: Census of Antarctic Marine Life

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee, Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML). The Census of Antarctic Marine Life project was designed to monitor changes in marine fish and invertebrate populations as a result of depletion in the ice shelves. The project was led by Australian scientists Michael Stoddart and Victoria Wadley, who documented more than 16,000 species, of which several hundred were previously unknown.

CeDAMar: Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee, Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar). The Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life examined the feeding patterns and distribution ranges of life in the abyssal plains and larger oceanic basins in the Southern Atlantic and Southern Pacific oceans, ranging from single-celled organisms to larger cephalopods. The project, led by scientists Pedro Martinez Arbizu and Craig Smith, catalogued more than 500 new species and examined the causes of change to abyssal life far removed from the ocean floor (in the form of climate change, pollution and mining efforts).

CenSeam: Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts (CenSeam). The Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts project examined life on more than 100,000 seamounts that rose more than 1000 metres from the ocean floor, discovering new species and ecosystems similar to those on neighbouring slopes. The project, led by New Zealanders Malcolm Clark, Mireille Consalvey and Ashley Rowden, and American Karen Stocks, examined the perilous nature of these isolated communities when subject to changes such as damage caused by nearby fishing.

GOMA: Gulf of Maine Area

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Gulf of Maine Area (GOMA). The GOMA project involved creating a species register of the diverse Gulf of Maine, examining tidal pools, slopes, seamounts, and other underwater landforms. The project, headed by Canadian and American scientists Sara Ellis, Lewis Incze and Peter Lawton, assembled more than 4000 species and microbes native to the area (more than twice the amount previously determined to live in the Gulf). The project used sonar as a means of examining the overall marine ecosystem and species’ interactions, rather than focusing on individual species.

ICoMM: International Census of Marine Microbes

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM). The International Census of Marine Microbes project sought to determine the diversity and distribution of microscopic sea life from hundreds of locations around the world. The project, led by Americans Mitchell Sogin and Linda Amaral-Zettler and Dutch scientist Jan de Leeuw, discovered that initial estimates of ocean-residing microbe species was vastly under previously predicted levels, with numbers of species being at least ten times greater than previous estimates, and many more widely distributed than predicted. They also discovered that thousands of different microbe species live within a single litre of seawater.

NaGISA: Natural Geography in Shore Areas

Subseries contains correspondence, research data, and conference minutes and notes related to the Census of Marine Life subcommittee Natural Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA). The Natural Geography in Shore Areas project sought to produce a worldwide near-shore biodiversity inventory, examining marine life in seagrass beds and along rock shores. The project, led by an international contingent of scientists from Japan (Yoshihisa Shirayama), United States (Brenda Konar and Katrin Iken), Venezuela (Patricia Miloslavich and Juan José Cruz Motta), Italy (Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi), Kenya (Edward Kimani) and Canada (Gerhard Pohle), sampled data from 200 short-term sites and 40 long-terms sites, discovering new species and recording the habits and habitats of other species in new areas.