DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkh81
title: Data from: Identifying conservation priorities for gorgonian forests in Italian coastal waters with multiple methods including citizen science and social media content analysis

description: Gorgonian forests are among the most complex of subtidal habitats in the
 Mediterranean Sea, supporting high biodiversity and providing diverse
 ecosystem services. Despite their iconic status, the geographical
 distribution and condition of gorgonian species is poorly known. Using
 multiple online data sources, our primary aims were to compile, map and
 analyse observations of gorgonian forests in Italian coastal waters to
 assess the biological complexity of gorgonian forests; evaluate impacts
 and vulnerable species, and identify areas of special interest inside and
 outside of existing MPAs to help prioritise conservation strategies and
 actions.
description: Data on the distribution, abundance, and condition of seven major
 habitat-forming species of gorgonians in Italian coastal waters was
 acquired, collated, and evaluated using a multi-source data synthesis
 workflow: 1.) peer-reviewed and grey literature; 2.) citizen science
 projects; 3.) archived survey datasets available on the World Wide Web
 (WWW) including social media diver observations (photos and videos); and
 4.) questionnaires completed after diving by SCUBA divers. Data on marine
 protected area locations and type were obtained from the World Database on
 Protected Areas (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN 2019).
 Scientific data were gathered using a systematic literature
 review based on a specific list of search terms (English and Italian
 language) entered into the internet search engine Google Scholar. Google
 Data was extracted from a total of 50 scientific publications. For C.
 rubrum, a large amount of data was extracted from the comprehensive
 CorMedNet dataset (http://cormednet.medrecover.org/). 
 Data from citizen science activities were provided by Reef Check
 Italia (RCI) (https://www.reefcheckmed.org/) and extracted from
 iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/). These data originated from
 SCUBA diver surveys and underwater photographs conducted by trained
 observers. All records were quality checked following Cerrano et al., 2017
 and iNaturalist research grade peer validation.
 Information acquired from the WWW included amateur underwater
 videos and pictures obtained mainly from Facebook and YouTube (the latest
 information obtained was dated 17/05/2019). A standardised sequence of
 steps was applied to retrieve ecological information on the focal species.
 Terms were searched in both English and Italian language to include social
 media posts from non-English speakers. The Purple Octopus crowdsourcing
 tool (http://www.purpleoctopus.org/groupsourcing/index.php) was used to
 explore the messages and images posted on Facebook by combining the data
 with the selected species names. Names and locations of Italian dive sites
 (www.logbookimmersioni.it) were used as key terms to further retrieve
 ecological information on the focal species. Photographs and video taken
 in Italian coastal waters were observed by experts to identify species to
 select information only where one of the seven focal species were
 observed. Authors of material published on the WWW were contacted, where
 possible, by social media message or email for more details about the
 record, such as dive date, exact location, depth and temperature. Records
 lacking information on date and dive location were discarded. The
 abundance and extent of damage of the gorgonian forest was estimated
 visually and assigned to impact classes following a standardized method,
 and additional visual information was also recorded.
 All records were quality checked through a data validation
 process based on literature cross checking (e.g., consistency among
 reported species) and manual procedures (e.g., matching dive site names to
 geographic coordinates). The origin of all inconsistent data was further
 investigated to attempt its correction. All data failing the quality
 control after further inspection was permanently deleted from the
 database. The resulting dataset comprises separate records for each single
 species found by each observer/scientific publication in a diving site.
 Diving sites (n = 61) were localised using geographical coordinates (Datum
 WGS84) and a minimum accuracy of ± 15?? (= ± 0.00417°) was
 assured.
description: The decimal accuracy of Corallium rubrum locations was decreased
 in order to preserve the vulnerability of the species.