Identifying conservation priorities for gorgonian forests in Italian coastal waters with multiple methods including citizen science and social media content analysis

Aim Gorgonian forests are among the most complex of subtidal habitats in Mediterranean Sea, supporting high biodiversity and providing diverse ecosystem services. Despite their iconic status, geographical distribution condition gorgonian species is poorly known. Using multiple online data sources, our primary aims were to compile, map analyse observations Italian coastal waters assess biological complexity forests, evaluate impacts vulnerable species, identify areas special interest inside outside marine protected (MPAs) help prioritize conservation strategies actions. Location Italy. Sea. Methods a multi-source integration approach, we collected integrated from scientific publications, World Wide Web including social media platforms, citizen science projects SCUBA diver questionnaires into unified spatial framework. This method provided up-to-date information on distribution, abundance, health major habitat-forming waters. Results Higher abundance occurred MPAs. Areas Special Interest (n = 167) identified (80 87 MPAs). Three locations supported all seven focal species: Capo Caccia MPA, Portofino MPA Catania (unprotected). The purple (Paramuricea clavata), abundant geographically widespread with highest forest complexity, was affected by stressors thermal stress, disease fishing. Main conclusions approach rapid cost-effective tool gather, disparate spanning 27 years underwater both unique perspective given this demonstrates suboptimal protection several species. has great potential for wider application offers more inclusive participatory model crowdsourcing repurposing under-utilized while also increasing ocean literacy.