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The Mondego river has a temperamental character, with variable flows with climatic and seasonal changes, being able to occur floods(downstream) or in the summer can become an immense sand. In spring, the rains and the melting of the Serra da Estrela thicken the river. From the 1970s, hydraulic engineering came on the scene. A plan was implemented for the hydraulic utilization of the river basin, which led to the construction of several dams.

All this process contributed to make artificial the natural hydrological regime of the river and great part of its bed, changing the life of the populations, but also the entire fluvial ecosystem.

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Since the 70´s , human infrastructers, like  hydroelectrical dams alters the habitat of migratory species.

Diadromes fishes, that migrate from ocean to the rivers, changed their life cycle. In the 80´s millions  of the lampreys on the downstream,  Açude Bridge- Coimbra, were retain and didn´t migrate north.
In 1998, the PEA (Portuguese Environment Agency) with Évora University (MARE) and de LNEC (civil engineering laboratory)  made a investiment project  to constructed a concrete structure in the Ponte do Açude- Coimbra, for these fishes.

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yellowstone wolfs
The wolves were brought in because the increased elk population was overgrazing the deciduous, woody species such as aspen and cottonwood.

Biotic Relationships in Mondego River
Parasitism- example 1

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Morraceira Island is located where the Mondego reaches the Atlantic Ocean, south of Figueira da Foz.

In this case, the alluvium that was created from sand and earth by the activity of two river currents (north and south) was created a salty piece of mud, meadow and reed .... And "morraça"- Spartina maritima is a herbaceous, vivacious and rhizomatous plant of the Gramineae family. It is frequent and spontaneous in the maritime sands of the Center and South of Portugal and has stems that can reach about 70 centimeters in height, short leaves and ears of flowers yellowish at maturity

https://flora-on.pt/?q=Spartina+maritima

"Morraceira Island", the name comes from this  plant, Spartina maritima, that likes the sea air and with preference for places that, from time to time, are submerged.
The marshes of the Mondego Estuary are favorable for the growth of the Spartina sp, which has surprising dimensions taking into account the space where the island is located, (seven kilometers of extension and 600 hectares of area being visible on an amplified map of Portugal).

http://www.uc.pt/fluc/depgeo/Cadernos_Geografia/Numeros_publicados/CadGeo32/Eixo2_4

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I Chose The  Mondego River to my BioArea, because it is the largest river "totally Portuguese" and it is in my region.
The Romans called Munda to the river Mondego. Munda means transparency, clarity and purity.

Video Mondego

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Lenght - 234km
| Basin area | 6645 km2
| Country of hydrographic basin   | Portugal
| Origin | Gouveia, Serra da Estrela
| Altitude of the source | 1525 m
| Delta | Estuary  of  Mondego
| Main affluent | Left: Dão Right: Alva, Ceira, Ega, Arunca, Pranto
| Medium flow | 108 m³/s
| Mouth of the river | Atlantic Ocean ,Figueira da Foz (42 km from Coimbra)

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| Lenght | 234km
| Basin area | 6645 km2
| Country  of hydrographic basin   | Portugal
| Origin | Gouveia, Serra da Estrela
| Altitude of the source | 1525 m
| Delta | Estuary  of  Mondego
| Main affluent | Left: Dão Right: Alva, Ceira, Ega, Arunca, Pranto
| Medium flow | 108 m³/s
| Mouth of the river | Atlantic Ocean Figueira da Foz (42 km from Coimbra)

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Mondego

Basin area

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Mondego River Localization in Portugal and ”Mondeguinho”- the Source of Mondego River in Serra Estrela is  in the municipality of Gouveia. In its initial course, it crosses the montain Serra da Estrela, from southwest to northeast, in the municipalities of Gouveia and Guarda. A few kilometers from this city, it reaches an altitude of less than 450 meters. At that point, cross your course, first to the northwest and then, in the county of Celorico da Beira, to the southwest. Here begins its average course, along the plateau basin, cutting granite rocks and metamorphic formations.

Read more: https://riosdeportugal.webnode.pt/rios-de-portugal/rio-mondego/

http://ensina.rtp.pt/artigo/rio-mondego/

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Big land birds :

Circus aeruginosus

Passeriformes :
Motacilla alba, Motacilla flava, Saxicola rubicola, Phoenicurus ochruros, Phylloscopus collybita, Sturnus vulgaris
http://www.avesdeportugal.info/phooch.html

Rarities:

Small flamingo- Phoenicopterus roseus
rust-duck- Tadorna ferruginea small-yellow-leg - Tringa flavipes gulls: Larus delawarensis and Larus argentatus

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Some of the species identified for this basin are of particular importance from the conservation and commercial point of view, namely shallow (Alosa alosa), savelha (Alosa fallax), lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and trout (Salmo trout fario).The construction of the system of dams and dams along the river has been a barrier to the passage of migratory species. Downstream of the Coimbra dam are exclusively species that survive a potential saline influence.
File Species http://www.rhpdm.uevora.pt/speciesfile_pt.html

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As regards the state of conservation of riparian vegetation, it can be seen that in only about a third of the total extent of the river can be considered very well preserved, that is, where both margins have a well developed vegetation cover, strata and shrub.

Among the main factors of disturbance, degradation and destruction of associated aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are: urban and industrial development, agricultural development, dam construction, illegal sands extraction, recreational activities, forestry , forest fires, invasion of exotic species, hunting and fishing.

In the section of Baixo Mondego, the forests of poplars, elm trees and willows appear, of which the most emblematic is undoubtedly the National Forest of Choupal on the outskirts of Coimbra- Famous Students City with Coimbra University- UNESCO patrimony

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Example 1

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Alexandre Sousa (Pt)Evaluation of this Padlet

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Alexandre Sousa (Pt)Evaluation of this Padlet

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Your BioArea is looking excellent!

Soberly organized... transmits a lot of information... easy learning.
Congratulations!

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It's really admirable how you developed the project from conception to completion. I liked the organization, the clarity and above all from the perspective.
Congratulations.
Your BioArea is looking excellent!

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good work Rosa! your BioArea looks good! Please if you want evaluate my work too! :)

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This course was a big challenge!
I learned so many things about Biodiversity... all the BioAreas are amazing! Congratulations to all!
My BioArea is a little poor because my tecnological Skills aren´t the greatest and my English is so basic... However I  really enjoyed sharing my bioArea with you!
Thank you!

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Your padlet looks excellent!!!
I like the way you have classified your tasks! Keep up the good work!

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Growing aquaculture in this region, fishing in all these Murraceira canals and even poaching of waders and flamingos, are a threat to the biodiversity of this region.

The existence of a high flow of nutrients from the agricultural fields of the Downstream Mondego valley, leads to eutrophication of the intertidal zones, causing a high growth of macro-algae. There is a gradual transformation of active saline into aquaculture or abandoned saline, which results in an irreversible loss of feeding habitat and nesting of shorebirds.

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Anguillicoloides crassus is a parasitic nematode worm that lives in the swimbladders of eels (Anguilla spp.) and appears to spread easily among eel populations after introduction to a body of water. It is considered to be one of the threats to the sustainability of populations of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) it is due to chemical contamination of heavy metals.
http://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/1253
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anguillicola_crassus.jpg#/media/File:Anguillicola_crassus.jpg

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That is an ornithological interesting local, since in the estuary it is common to observe species such as the Anas platyrhynchos, the white stork (Ciconia ciconia), the common flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) , the silver gull (Larus argentatus), the tailor (Recurvirostra avosetta), the moth (Himantopus himantopus) and the dwarf tern (Sterna albifrons) and among others.

Due to its ecological importance as a wetland for nesting and / or feeding numerous species of waterfowl, the Mondego Estuary has been classified as a Ramsar Convention site, a habitat of international importance, not only by birds, but also by the existence of migratory fish species, such as lamprey, shad and savelha.(vide study case- theme 3)

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In operation since 2011, it has contributed decisively to the recovery of the fish populations of Mondego. Besides allowing access to a section of the river with 31 kilometers between Coimbra and Penacova, it allowed the migratory fish to return to the terminal part of two of its tributaries, the rivers Ceira and Alva.

To continue their journey upstream, migratory fish arriving in Coimbra must detect the entrance to the structure and swim 125 meters along an artificial channel, consisting of 23 successive basins, thought, calculated and constructed to facilitate their journey.

Two windows appear. It is through them that, in the monitoring building of PPPeixes (WalkWay for fishes), it is possible to observe and collect images of the animals that pass through the structure, in a room full of technical information and full-scale models of the target species of the project.

All fish that go up and down the river are filmed and counted. Each month, 1 terabyte of images are collected, providing valuable information unique to Europe. Between 2013 and 2016, more than three million animals used PPPeixes to better understand the migratory behavior of species and to validate the effectiveness of the engineering project.

There are eight species for this project: sea lamprey, shad, savoy, European eel, muge, barbel, common boga and river trout.

The observation through a glass of four-kilogram fish swimming through life is a fascinating show! The shad is returning to the Mondego!

The most mediatic is surely the marine lamprey. Much appreciated gastronomically, this "bizarre creature" has high economic value, of great importance to the region.

Since the beginning of operation of PPPeixes and in just five years (2011 to 2016), the abundance of lamprey larvae in the Mondego bed increased 14 times downstream and 40 times upstream of the Ponte-Açude Coimbra.
"Indiscreet Window" of "WalkWay"

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Fish passages in year 2014: 21977 lampreys, 3427 shales, 19223 barbs, 48866 bogas, 1153050 mounds, 817 European eels, 163 trout.

Another "star" of the project is the European eel, a fish of high economic value that has been in sharp decline for 30 years in the entire area where it occurs. They are born in the Sargasso Sea, make a journey of six thousand kilometers to reach the coasts of Europe and North Africa and become glass eels (juveniles). They are located in coastal areas or brackish, but many go up rivers. Those who choose the river Mondego and manage to reach Coimbra have a special structure waiting for them: the first passage designed for eels in Portugal, which started operating in June 2016.

In Portugal, the eel is threatened and loss of habitat is one of the problems. Overfishing is another factor and illegal catches are an environmental calamity!

The Mondego has always been an important river for migrating fish species and now it gains new life with this project!

The Alva and Ceira rivers (tributaries), on the other hand, are full of constraints to the migration of fish that, if solved, can contribute to an increase of the available habitat in the Mondego basin!

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The main threatening factors for this species are the obstacles to migration (dams) and the intense poaching of eels in estuarine areas, which give it the status of commercially endangered species. Although abundant, due to its migratory character it can become vulnerable, mainly due to the existence of successive obstacles.

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The tides and the habitats created by them

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The tides and the habitats created by them

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Coastal areas are interface regions between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, important for the enormous biological diversity they support and for the wide range of ecological regulatory and purification functions they perform.

Example 2: relationship Predator- Prey

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At the mouth of the Mondego river, in the city of Figueira da Foz, there are organisms that are highly dependent on the tides and the movement of the waves that feed on nutrients suspended in sea water. In this particularly oxygenated environment, there may be limpets, mussels, seaweed, crabs, starfish and anemones, individuals with different ecological niches. These are preys of the eel.

Mouth of the Mondego river, in the city of Figueira da Foz

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Through this window we can see these migratory fishes in their natural habitat and observe  differents ecological niches of Mondego River. We can´t see
invasion of exotic species.

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In my BioArea  may occurs excessive fishing and man intervention (human infrastructers, like  hydroelectrical dams- theme 3) which may lead to the threat of species like savelha (Alosa fallax), lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and trout (Salmo trout fario) - LC in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Anguilla Anguilla CR in IUCN.

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https://nationalgeographic.sapo.pt/natureza/grandes-reportagens/1811-a-janela-indiscreta-no-mondego?showall=1 http://www.rhpdm.uevora.pt/abouttheproject_pt.html