Engaging citizens for biodiversity exploration: a case study in the Bay of Biscay based on family photographs

Scientists report accelerated changes in marine biodiversity on the last decades. However, the real extent of such changes cannot be properly estimated due to the lack of a reliable baseline covering the last century. In the... [ view full abstract ]

Scientists report accelerated changes in marine biodiversity on the last decades. However, the real extent of such changes cannot be properly estimated due to the lack of a reliable baseline covering the last century. In the coast of Asturias (North of Spain, Bay of Biscay) documented information about biodiversity prior to 1980 is very scarce and fragmented, in absence of systematic monitoring. However most families conserve old photographs taken from a short distance that document children playing amid seabirds, grabbing small animals from the rock pools, and other moments when not only the persons but also the environment is protagonist. Here we present an experience where volunteers have found old family photographs and returned to the same places on the coast for taking new photographs again from the same perspective. They were involved in image analysis and biodiversity measurements, as well as in the process of statistical analysis between past and present biodiversity indices. This activity allowed to quantifying coastal diversity changes occurred in the region during the last century and to starting an archive of photographic materials for purposes of biodiversity studies. More importantly, it was the seed for creating a very motivated group of volunteers engaged in marine environmental monitoring and conservation.