Monitoring studies of floristic and faunistic communities and environmental services assessment of Almada

• Services Acquisition
• 2016 to 2018

Summary:

Over the last years, cE3c (and previoulsy the former CBA) has collaborated with the Municipality of Almada, to enhance the knowledge about natural values, ecosystems and biodiversity, strengthening the ecosystem services and the environmental quality of the municipality of Almada. These studies have contributed to the development of planning tools such as the Municipal Ecological Structure, the Almada Ecological Corridors Network and the Linear Parks Network, with the aim to preserve areas and systems that, due to their characteristics and physical support of ecological services, are fundamental to the sustainability of this municipality. They have also contributed to the definition of mitigation measures of current and future threats, such as the loss of biodiversity, habitats or ecosystems with important environmental functions, particularly mitigating the effects of linear infrastructures (roads) on the local vertebrates communities. The promotion of environmental services requires their identification and valuation, which has been developed under the selection of Ecosystem Services indicators and their measurement and adjustment to the municipality of Almada, and in the selection of intervention priority areas, with preliminary studies and projects in the area of ecological restoration of water lines, coastal dune systems, Mediterranean woodlands and forests.

The present project extends this collaborative work, in order to: i) perform studies and projects about the restoration of high ecological value ecosystems; ii) develop and monitor the LTER-Almada site; iii) promote the connectivity in the Ecological Corridor Network of Almada. Our four main tasks are:

1) To monitor the evolution of plant and animal communities of São João da Caparica´s coastal dunes and the effects of its restoration on ecosystem resilience, after the implementation of the program “ReDuna – Recovery and ecological restoration of the S. João da Caparica sand dune system" managed by the Municipality of Almada.

2) To assess and monitor ecosystem services (support and regulation) in LTER-Almada site key areas: a) the green area “Parque da Paz”, b) Linear Parks Network, and c) urban areas with high susceptibility to urban heat-island effect

3) To monitor and develop procedures to minimize the effects of fragmentation created by the road network, specifically the roadkill impact on vertebrates communities.

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Funding Institution:

Scientific Advisory protocol with the Municipality of Almada.

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Partners:

Municipality of Almada.

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