Citizen Scientists and Marine Research: Volunteer Participants, Their Contributions, and Projection for the Future

Contributions made by citizen scientists were equally based on incidental observations as on standardized surveys. In general, the contribution of citizen scientists greatly enhances research capacity, providing an increased workforce over extensive spatial and intensive temporal scales at comparatively moderate costs. This review is a first attempt to explore the extensive literature on volunteer participation in marine research. Accessibility can be a challenge for marine research, and it could thus be expected that projects with volunteer participants will be concentrated in particular habitats, most likely beaches and nearshore, shallowwater environments. Marine research topics supported by volunteers Main topics and taxa Of the 227 publications analyzed, 84.6% were dedicated to, or at least included, the study of fauna. Projects addressing taxa of commercial importance were considered in 56 publications in our database, including mainly bony fishes, but also other taxa. A comparatively large proportion of initiatives dealt with emblematic species.