Department of Zoology

 

Ecology and Conservation Science

Richard Barnes

Research Fellow

Email: rsb1001@cam.ac.uk

Richard Barnes studies benthic invertebrate ecology in coastal marine soft sediments. Of especial current interest are the patterns of variation across space — from latitudinal scales at one extreme to sub-1 m ones at the other — in biodiversity, abundance, composition and structure of the macrofaunal assemblages that dominate intertidal seagrass beds. The fieldwork for this study is conducted in a variety of geographical regions, including the Scolt Head National Nature Reserve (UK, EU), the Garden Route National Park (Western Cape, RSA), and the Moreton Bay Marine Park (Queensland, Australia).

Besides carrying out the work on Scolt Head through the Department, Richard is an Honorary Research Fellow of the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Queensland and of the Biodiversity Program of the Queensland Museum, both in Brisbane, permitting the Australian part of the research to be carried out from the Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island, and likewise the South African part is undertaken from the Knysna Field Laboratory in the Western Cape, through his Honorary Fellowship of Rhodes University's Department of Zoology & Entomology and membership of the Knysna Basin Project. The Australian site also host his interests in the ecology of macrophthalmid and ocypodid crabs.

At various times in the recent past Richard has been Chairman of the European Union for Coastal Conservation (U.K.) and Secretary of the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association. He is also the author of several books, including An Introduction to Marine Ecology (with Roger Hughes of Bangor), The Invertebrates (with Peter Calow of Sheffield and Peter Olive of Newcastle), Estuarine Biology, Coastal Lagoons and The Brackish-Water Fauna of Northwestern Europe.

Selected recent publications

  • Barnes, R.S.K. 2013. Distribution patterns of macrobenthic biodiversity in the intertidal seagrass beds of an estuarine system, and their conservation significance. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22, 357-372.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Ellwood, M.D.F.  2012. Spatial variation in the macrobenthic assemblages of intertidal seagrass along the long axis of an estuary. Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science, 112, 173-182.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Barnes, M.K.S.  2012.  Shore height and differentials between macrobenthic assemblages in vegetated and unvegetated areas of an intertidal sandflat. Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science, 106, 112-120.
  • Smale, D.A., Barnes, D.K.A., Barnes, R.S.K., Smith, D.J. & Suggett, D.J.  2012.  Spatial variability in the structure of intertidal crab and gastropod assemblages within the Seychelles Archipelago (Indian Ocean).  Journal of Sea Research, 69, 8-15.
  • Clifton, J., Etienne, M., Barnes, D.K.A., Barnes, R.S.K., Suggett, D.J. & Smith, D.J. 2012. Marine conservation policy in Seychelles: Current constraints and prospects for improvement.  Marine Policy, 36, 823-831.
  • Vieira, S., Coelho, H., Nolasco, R., Serodio, J., Barnes, R.S.K. & Queiroga, H.  2012.  Repeated cycles of immersion and emersion amplify the crawling rhythm of the intertidal gastropod Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant, 1777).  Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K., 92, 565-570.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Ellwood, M.D.F. 2012.  The critical scale of small-scale spatial variation in ecological patterns and processes in intertidal macrobenthic seagrass assemblages.   Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science,98, 119-125.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Ellwood, M.D.F.  2011.  The significance of shore height in intertidal macrobenthic seagrass ecology and conservation. Aquatic Conservation, 21, 614-624.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Ellwood, M.D.F.  2011.  Macrobenthic assemblage structure in a cool-temperate intertidal dwarf-eelgrass bed in comparison with those in lower latitudes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 104, 527-540.
  • Barnes, R.S.K. & Barnes, M.K.S.  2011. Hierarchical scales of spatial variation in the smaller surface and near-surface macrobenthos of a subtropical intertidal seagrass system in Moreton Bay, Queensland.  Hydrobiologia, 673, 169-178.
  • Barnes, R.S.K.  2010. Spatial variation in abundance and diversity of the smaller surface and near-surface eelgrass-associated intertidal macrobenthos within a warm-temperate estuarine bay in the Garden Route National Park, RSA.  Aquatic Conservation, 20, 762-772.
  • Vieira, S., Coelho, H., Nolasco, R., Serodio, J., Barnes, R.S.K. & Queiroga, H.  2010.  The circatidal rhythm of the estuarine gastropod Hydrobia ulvae (Gastropoda, Hydrobiidae).  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 100, 439-450.
  • Barnes, R.S.K.  2010.  A review of the sentinel and allied crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Macrophthalmidae), with particular reference to the genus Macrophthalmus.  Raffles Bulletin of Zoology,  58, 31-49.
  • Barnes, R.S.K.  2010.  Regional and latitudinal variation in the diversity, dominance and abundance of microphagous microgastropods and other benthos in intertidal beds of dwarf eelgrass, Nanozostera spp.  Marine Biodiversity, 40, 95-106.
  • Barnes, R.S.K.  2010.  A remarkable case of fiddler crab (Uca spp,) alpha diversity in Wallacea.  Hydrobiologia, 637, 249-253.
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