ECOFAM Program: integrating citizen science and marine fauna on the coast of Buenos Aires Province
Abstract
The Coastal Team of Marine Fauna and Environment Observers (ECOFAM) is a citizen science program that promotes, through the participation of volunteers from local communities, the generation of quality information about the environment and marine fauna on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. During the first two years of activities on the coast of Buenos Aires Province (September 2020-August 2022), 82 volunteers conducted beach patrols for 953 hours and recorded 2297 carcasses of a total of 53 species, including birds (n= 2069, 35 species), sea turtles (n=7, 3 species), and marine mammals (n=221, 16 species). The observations were recorded through the iNaturalist portal, and an additional application was developed to facilitate the identification of carcasses. Among the birds, penguins (Fam. Spheniscidae) were the most abundant (n=1712), followed by petrels and shearwaters (Procellariidae, n=136), albatrosses (Diomedeidae, n=66), grebes (Podicipedidae, n= 57), and gulls (Laridae, n=47). The Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) was the species with the highest number of observations (n=1691) and exhibited an abundance pattern with peaks from the months of February to May. For the distribution of other species with numerous records (Ardenna gravis and Puffinus puffinus), a seasonal trend was also observed from January to May and from November to March, respectively. The program’s features, the activities carried out by volunteers, and the diversity of the records are presented.
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How to cite
Rubén F. Dellacasa, Leandro L. Tamini, Gustavo E. Chiaramonte, Cecilia M. Riestra, Juan J. Bonanno Derndich, Maia B. Acosta, Analía Belaus, Bárbara N. Biene Palacios, Franco Bogel, M. Agustina Blanco, Eugenia A. Bonetti, Axel Brost, Joaquín Brost, Jürgen Brost, Klaus Brost, Walter Brost, Susana Cabrelli, Mateo Carelli, Sandra Despósito, Andrea Di Fabio, Ricardo Doumecq Milieu, L. Alejandro Duvieilh, Rodolfo A. Fangauf, Lucía López, Malena Lorente, Hugo Luján, Julia Mazzutti, Camila B. Merodio, Walter Moorlag, José L. Nogueira, Graciela Panisello, Laura R. Pérez, Mariela E. Politano Möller, Silvina S. Romero, Lucas Rui, Paula A. Taraborelli, Julieta Varela, Lucía N. Vila, María B. Villa, César A. Zehnder (2024). ECOFAM Program: integrating citizen science and marine fauna on the coast of Buenos Aires Province . El Hornero, Vol. 39 No. 1 (2024), 105-117. https://doi.org/10.56178/eh.v39i1.1484
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