Institutes often lack funds and manpower to perform large-scale biodiversity monitoring. Citizens can be involved, contributing to the collection of data, thus decreasing costs. Underwater research requires specialist skills and SCUBA certification, and it can be difficult to involve volunteers. The aim of this study was to involve large numbers of recreational divers in marine biodiversity monitoring for increasing the environmental education of the public and collecting data on the status of marine biodiversity. Here we show that thousands of recreational divers can be enrolled in a short time. Using specially formulated questionnaires, nonspecialist volunteers reported the presence of 61 marine taxa encountered during recreational dives, performed as regular sport dives. Validation trials were carried out to assess the accuracy and consistency of volunteer-recorded data, and these were compared to reference data collected by an experienced researcher. In the majority of trials (76%) volunteers performed with an accuracy and consistency of 50-80%, comparable to the performance of conservation volunteer divers on precise transects in other projects. The recruitment of recreational divers involved the main diving and tour operators in Italy, a popular scientific magazine, and mass media. During the four-year study, 3825 divers completed 18757 questionnaires, corresponding to 13539 diving hours. The volunteer-sightings-based index showed that in the monitored area the biodiversity status did not change significantly within the project time scale, but there was a significant negative correlation with latitude, suggesting improved quality in the southernmost areas. This trend could be related to the presence of stressors in the northern areas and has been supported by investigations performed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. The greatest limitation with using volunteers to collect data was the uneven spatial distribution of samples. The benefits were the considerable amounts of data collected over short time periods and at low costs. The successful development of citizen-based monitoring programs requires open-mindedness in the academic community; advantages of citizen involvement in research are not only adding large data sets to the ecological knowledge base but also aiding in the environmental education of the public.

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Seahorses ( Hippocampus) live in tropical and temperate waters. Habitat degradation and fishery overexploitation have led to drastic population declines on a global scale. Population monitoring is therefore essential to determine current status and manage conservation. In this first study in Italian waters on the geographic and ecological distribution of the two Mediterranean species, Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus ramulosus, recreational scuba divers were recruited and trained to report sightings. A specially formulated questionnaire was produced and distributed to scuba diving schools and centers. In the 3-year study, 2536 divers spent 6077 diving hours gathering data and completed 8827 questionnaires. Eight percent of the questionnaires showed seahorse sightings, for a total of 3061 sighted specimens, 68% of which referred to Hippocampus ramulosus. The two species had overlapping geographic distributions. Seahorse abundance varied, with the northern Adriatic Sea showing greatest abundance, followed by the central-southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Seahorses were rare in the Ligurian and northern Tyrrhenian seas. Preferred habitats were shallow areas with either sandy bottoms or Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows. Seahorse distribution may be correlated with the degree of degradation of P. oceanica meadows. Resource users (the divers) were willing to take part in biological monitoring and contributed in scientific terms by collecting considerable amounts of data over short time periods and in economic terms by decreasing costs. The greatest limitation with volunteers was the difficulty in obtaining a uniformly distributed sample across time and space. We conclude that recreational divers and other resource users can play an active part in monitoring the marine environment and that the Mediterranean Hippocampus Mission may be used as a model for biodiversity monitoring. unteers in research Voluntarios en el Monitoreo de Conservación Marina: un Estudio de Distribución de Caballitos de Mar Llevado a Cabo con Buzos Scuba Recreativos Resumen: Los caballitos de mar ( Hippocampus) viven en aguas tropicales y templadas. La degradación del hábitat y la sobreexplotación pesquera han conducido a declinaciones poblacionales drásticas en una escala global. Por lo tanto, el monitoreo de poblaciones es esencial para determinar el estatus actual y gestionar su conservación. En este primer estudio en aguas italianas sobre la distribución geográfica y ecológica de dos especies Mediterráneas, Hippocampus hippocampus e Hippocampus ramulosus, se reclutó y entrenó a buzos scuba recreativos para reportar avistamientos. Un cuestionario especialmente formulado fue producido y distribuido en escuelas y centros de buceo scuba. En el estudio de 3 años, 2536 buzos pasaron 6077 horas reuniendo datos y completaron 8827 cuestionarios. Ocho por ciento de los cuestionarios mostraban avistamientos de caballitos de mar, para un total de 3061 individuos avistados, de los cuales 68% se referían a Hippocampus ramulosus. Las dos especies tuvieron ...

Tourism is of growing economical importance to many nations, in particular for developing countries. Although tourism is an important economic vehicle for the host country, its continued growth has led to on-going concerns about its environmental sustainability. Coastal and marine tourism can directly affect the environment through direct and indirect tourist activities. For these reasons tourism sector needs practical actions of sustainability. Several studies have shown how education minimizes the impact on and is proactive for, preserving the natural resources. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a citizen science program to improve the environmental education of the volunteers, by means of questionnaires provided to participants to a volunteer-based Red Sea coral reef monitoring program (STEproject). Fifteen multiple-choice questions evaluated the level of knowledge on the basic coral reef biology and ecology and the awareness on the impact of human behaviour on the environment. Volunteers filled in questionnaires twice, once at the beginning, before being involved in the project and again at the end of their stay, after several days participation in the program. We found that the participation in STEproject significantly increased both the knowledge of coral reef biology and ecology and the awareness of human behavioural impacts on the environment, but was more effective on the former. We also detected that tourists with a higher education level have a higher initial level of environmental education than less educated people and that the project was more effective on divers than snorkelers. This study has emphasized that citizen science projects have an important and effective educational value and has suggested that tourism and diving stakeholders should increase their commitment and efforts to these programs