Line of action:

Marine ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Canary Islands

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2026

End date:

2028

Duration:

16/01/2026 - 30/09/2028

Total budget:

501.000 €

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

425.850 €

The project aims to determine climate refuges by studying historical environmental variables in the regions where the community is located, so it can help to visualize the evolution of the community with the variables related to climate change. In addition, it proposes the protection of communities of macroalgae that form habitats that contribute to absorbing carbon in the coastal areas of the Canary Islands, thus helping to mitigate excess CO2 in marine ecosystems.

In the last decade, there has been a decline in the coverage of gelidial macroalgae in the Canary Islands. This community is made up of the endemic species Gelidium canariense, Gelidium arbuscula and Pterocladiella capillacea, as well as other species of characteristic red algae and dozens of species of invertebrates and fish. It is an endemic community that makes up a shallow intertidal and subtidal habitat characteristic of the northern areas of the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Gomera and La Palma and its loss would imply one of the first extinctions of an endemic species of macroalgae in the world. This project seeks to monitor their current status, map the community and its populations to establish priority areas for conservation and restoration, thus facilitating the implementation of spatial protection measures for this community.

• Carry out an environmental characterization of the areas where the gelidiales appear and adjacent areas to determine the favorable conditions for their development.
• Develop climate maps to analyse potential trends in a climate change context using available oceanographic buoy and satellite data.
• Develop maps with priority regions for community conservation and restoration.
• To determine the structure and genetic diversity of the population of the Gelidium canariense and thereby establish source populations, sink and gene flows between the current population strongholds.
• To determine by metabarcoding (environmental DNA) which biodiversity is being lost, taxonomically characterizing the algal and faunal community of this community. To do this, we will combine genetics and traditional taxonomy.
• Once all the results have been obtained: create a proposal for priority areas for protection and possible restoration plans for this community.
• Plan the professional documentation of scientific work, with the idea of raising awareness of the importance of this unique community of the Canary Islands and the strategies that we can follow for its conservation.