LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
TRAILER
Institutional series of 4 episodes portraying the science involved, for decades, in the study of ecosystems ranging from North to South of Portugal (Montado, Ria de Aveiro, Baixo Sabor, and Estuaries). The LTER sites are study platforms aimed at offering solutions for natural and social systems through the collection of continuous information over time. The idea is to understand and predict better management practices for agro-silvopastoral systems, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers: locations influenced by human activities and threatened by climate change.
This production by SPECO - Portuguese Society of Ecology emerges as part of its broader communication strategy of the LTER Portugal platform.
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PHOTOGRAPHY AND EDITION Miguel Cortes Costa
PRODUCTION AND MOTION GRAPHICS Carolina Castro Almeida
MUSIC Miguel Mateus Pinheiro and Guilherme Figueiredo
CLIENT Portuguese Ecology Society (SPECO)
YEAR 2021
Premiere of the LTER films at the International Science Festival in Oeiras. It featured the screening of the trailer and the participation of the SPECO board, the LTER Portugal network, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, and the team that produced the film.
Screening of the 4 LTER institutional films at the main auditorium of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. The session was opened by the Faculty's board. The roundtable included the four coordinators from each LTER site and the team that produced the films.
LTER BAIXO SABOR
The Sabor River was one of the last wild rivers in Portugal. In 2016, its course was interrupted with the installation of a dam. When two concrete walls are erected and disrupt the natural flow of the river, what are the social and ecological consequences in the following decades? This question led the Lower Sabor to become an LTER site. The team aims to study mitigation measures, mandated by EDP, to reduce the impact caused by this hydroelectric project and, at the same time, enrich knowledge about the impacts of dams on river ecosystems.
LTsER ESTUARIES
Portugal is a coastal territory - from the meeting between land and sea, estuaries emerge, one of the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. There is a tendency for them to be habitats extremely altered by human hands. Research and monitoring are carried out by a group of universities and associated laboratories, covering three estuaries located at different points in the country and in different states of disturbance. These are the estuaries of the Mira River, Mondego River, and Minho River. Scientists, together with the population, work on sustainable economic solutions.
LTsER MONTADO
The "montado" is one of the most characteristic landscapes of Portugal and one of the clearest examples of the balance between Man and Nature. It is an agro-silvo-pastoral system whose predominant trees are the holm oak and the cork oak. The LTsER Montado platform has six observatories distributed in the regions where this type of habitat marks the history of the Alentejo scenery. The LTsER Montado platform was distinguished as the "Most Striking Case" by the international LTER network. The main studies focus on the montado's response to the advance of desertification intensified by climate change and on the continuous dialogue with managers for the improvement of agricultural practices.
LTsER RIA DE AVEIRO
The Ria de Aveiro is one of the largest wetlands in Europe. It is a coastal lagoon where we find salt marshes, islands, channels, and seagrass meadows. Plants and animals have adapted to an estuarine habitat, and humans are no exception, leaving behind unique cultural heritages. This lagoon is as rich and dynamic as it is fragile: various threats put the Ria at risk. Researchers at the University of Aveiro are joining efforts to preserve the seagrass meadows and salt marshes, which are responsible for significant carbon sequestration that mitigates the advancement of climate change - the so-called blue carbon.
