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"The stones that are in the shallows create a good habitat for infralapidicolar invertebrate species, both mobile and sedentary. Some species of algae and benthic invertebrates are able to settle on the surface of the vertical walls of the urban beach –and also on the stairs at the bottom of the bathing area and on the concrete base of the piles. Credit: Víctor Manzano / Catalan Federation of Underwater Activities (FECDAS) The high specific biodiversity-514 marine species-found in the bathing area of the Barcelona Forum is surprising, since it is an area that is quite polluted anthropically. benthic species that settle on a hard substrate. "The high specific diversity found in the bathing area-514 marine species-is surprising, since it is an area that is quite polluted anthropically, with remains from the construction of the pier itself, effluents from the Fòrum wastewater treatment plant and other waste (towelettes, pieces of metal plate, plastic containers, beverage cans, etc.)".Īpart from the exotic species, the organisms that have benefited most from the urban transformation of the Fòrum line are algae, sponges, bryozoans and colonial tunicates and fish typical of rocky substrates, i.e. The marine habitat of this artificial environment is quite stable "and that could be one of the factors that explain this great biodiversity," says lecturer Manuel Ballesteros, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Barcelona. Molluscs, fish, crustaceans, and algae are the most abundant groups identified in the study, according to the subsequent analysis of photographs and specimens examined in the laboratory. A large part of the studied area is for nautical sports activities –it features a number of small recreational boats– and for bathing.įrom 2017 to 2019, after more than 250 hours of diving, UB-IRBio experts and teams of citizen science volunteer collaborators from FECDAS and VIMAR analyzed the marine life of the Fòrum beach. The beach in Forum, located between the mouth of the Besòs River and the harbor of the Forum, is a small area, which is enclosed but connected to the open sea. The paper was published in Monografies de la Institució Catalana d'Història Natural.Ĭitizen science to uncover the hidden marine biodiversity The authors of the study are the experts Manuel Ballesteros and Àlex Parera, from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona (UB), together with Miquel Pontes, from the Marine Life Study Group (VIMAR) Xavier Salvador, from the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), and Guillermo Álvarez, from the Catalan Federation of Underwater Activities (FECDAS).