Video Mondego

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

Basin area

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

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

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

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

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. 

 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.

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.

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.

 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

"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

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)

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. 

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.