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The project of the University of Murcia (UMU) 'Sentinels of the Sea: citizen science for the monitoring of the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity in marine protected areas' presents its results this Friday, June 28, at 7:00 p.m. Club Nautico de San José Cabo de Gata - and on Saturday, June 29, at 8:30 pm, at the Interpretation Center of Cabo de Palos.
The objective of the research, promoted by the UMU Marine Ecology and Conservation research group, is the implementation of indicators of the effects of climate change on marine diversity, through a participatory methodology - citizen science -.
For this, 'Sentinels of the sea' has a network of 200 divers, fishermen and navigators of the marine reserves of fishing interest in Murcia Cabo de Palos, Hormigas Islands and Cabo Tiñoso- and Almería Cabo de Gata-Níjar-.
And, after a year of training, it has been found that these actors are observing changes in the marine environment that evidence scientific data on the effects of climate change.
Thus, thanks to the project, a network of 'Sentinels of the Sea' has been created in which the users of the same collaborate closely with the UMU in monitoring the effects of climate change on marine communities.
In addition, the data taken by the "sentinels" will be transferred to other existing citizen science platforms, such as Observers of the Sea, CIESM-Tropical Signals, ReefCheck, ECS or Earthdive, among others, contributing to the transfer of citizenship-science knowledge at the international.
Among the main observations are: mass mortalities of white or red gorgonia, bleaching of corals and coral algae, diseases in fish and invertebrates, presence of rare species in the captures or on the seabed thermophilic or foreign species and proliferation of jellyfish.
This initiative has the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, with the technical assistance of the Columbares and EcoAlmería associations and the company Sea and Fisheries Environment - SAFE.
Similarly, it contributes to achieving the objectives of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project 'Integrated, innovative and participatory management of the Natura 2000 Network in the Spanish marine environment'.
The activities of dissemination of results will continue during the next months.
Results of the project
Among the advances and actions developed as a result of this project are:
Identification of indicators for monitoring climate change in marine protected areas.
Realization of six meetings with divers, fishermen and sailors to lay the foundations of collaboration, which have been attended by 30 people.
Delivery of five training courses and six practical outings for divers, fishermen and sailors, in which the scientific protocols for monitoring the effects of climate change on the part of these users, in which they have participated, have been explained and put into practice. 160 people
Delivery of 20 stamps of good practices to sea users committed to climate change.
Preparation of a participatory methodological guide on data collection of selected open access indicators.
In it, the main effects of climate change on marine biodiversity are exposed, in an eminently practical manner, and simple specific protocols for participatory monitoring of the indicator species of these effects are provided, as well as identification sheets.
In addition, suggestions are included to minimize the impacts on the marine environment of the activities of the sectors involved and possible initiatives for adapting to climate change are proposed.
Programming of awareness-raising activities aimed at promoting awareness of the effects of climate change on our coast and the mechanisms that the oceans and marine biodiversity have to counteract these effects.
These include educational itineraries, workshops for children, projections of underwater photographs, project presentations and sessions to identify the impacts of climate change, in which nearly 400 people have participated.
Participation, with different experts, in 7 radio programs, in which the importance of citizen participation in sea conservation has been divulged to the public.
Presentation of 'Sentinels of the sea' in the International Scuba Diving Sustainability Workshop, held in Genoa (Italy), and in the '6th Conference on marine and coastal environment in the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia' Strengthening Partnerships '', held on February 1, 2019 in Alicante.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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