The project Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity has managed to identify a natural environment in the south of the island of La Palma for the study of the communities and populations of marine organisms of the future.

The University of La Laguna has completed the project ‘Impacts of ocean acidification on marine biodiversity: evidence from a natural laboratory’. This initiative has had the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition within the framework of its 2017 call for grants. Its purpose has been to predict the impact of ocean acidification on the biodiversity and functionality of marine ecosystems.

The project was framed on the coast of Punta de Fuencaliente, a place where underwater upwellings of CO2 naturally occur. The choice of this environment is because due to its characteristics it can constitute a laboratory for monitoring the ocean acidification process. To obtain the results , the physical-chemical characteristics of the outcrops were evaluated; studies of the biological communities, from their organization and; population dynamics and functionalities of the benthic ecosystems. These activities were also accompanied by a training plan and an outreach programme.