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LandSeaLot Integration Labs: Spotlight on the Tagus and Sado Estuaries System Lab

  • December 11, 2024

What is an Integration Lab?

LandSeaLot Integration Labs (LILs) are testing sites for developing a common strategy for observing the land-sea interface areas across Europe. They are piloting new methods, technologies and community-based approaches to the observation of these areas, including river mouths, estuaries and deltas.

Exploring the Tagus and Sado Estuaries

● The Tagus and Sado estuaries are located along the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Both estuaries are designated as Natural Reserves and are included in the Natura 2000 network

● The Tagus estuary, located in the Lisbon metropolitan area, is the second largest in Europe. It is home to Lisbon, the largest Portuguese city and capital, and includes a major harbour. Many migratory birds visit the mud and marshes on their journeys, with thousands of flamingos arriving in autumn

● The Sado estuary is a significant centre for oyster production and includes a resident population of bottlenose dolphins, being the only population living in an estuary in Portugal, and one of only three known in the rest of Europe (The Estuary)

Pressures on the Area

Floods

● The estuaries are at high risk of flooding from a combination of tides, storms and rising sea levels

● Rising sea levels increase the salinity (saltiness) of estuarine waters, altering their levels of nutrients and suspended sediments (turbidity), which are frequently high due to the mud from the river inflow

Heat waves

● Increasingly intense heat waves can alter salinity and sediment levels

●These conditions can impact local tourism, agriculture and aquaculture. They can also affect local plants and animals, including phytoplankton (microscopic organisms that absorb carbon from and release oxygen into rivers and oceans)

Image of Lisbon, Tagus and Sado Estuary and Bay taken from the LisOcean Model developed by CoLAB +ATLANTIC. Credit: Francisco Campuzano

Responding to Pressures

● Researchers at the TSS LIL are measuring sea surface temperature using satellites, numerical models and cost-effective sensors, quantifying the effects on local ecosystems and inferring the impact on the local aquaculture and tourism industries

● The LIL will provide flooding predictions and forecasts, measure water levels with increased accuracy and address data gaps

● The use of cost-effective technology – affordable, accessible and highly reliable sensors that are in some cases as small as a bottlecap – will help researchers and their collaborators gather and share more data about the area

Enhancing Observation through Collaboration

● The TSS LIL is testing new technologies and forging new collaborations to enhance observation of the land-sea interface area

● The LIL works with local stakeholders including environmental organisations, NGOs, citizen scientist groups and marinas

● For example, the LIL is planning to collaborate with aquaculture producers as citizen scientists, placing sensors in coastal spots like oyster farms to measure water temperature and water levels

 

Images provided courtesy of the Tagus and Sado Estuaries System LandSeaLot Integration Lab and CoLAB +ATLANTIC.

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LandSeaLot has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No 101134575. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. UK participants in Horizon Europe Project LandSeaLot are supported by UKRI grant numbers: 10109592 University of Stirling and 10107554 Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

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