Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/20455

Title: Coastal lagoons and their watersheds as GWDE: a case study in the southwest coast of Portugal
Authors: Chambel, António
Chainho, Paula
Félix, Pedro M
Correia, Maria João
Fernandes, Carla M
Costa, José Lino
Chaves, Maria Luísa
Stigter, Tibor
Hugman, Rui
Salvador, Núria
Costa, Luís
Domingos, Isabel
Lopes, Vera
Castro, João
Cruz, Teresa
Costa, André
Monteiro, José Paulo
Nunes, Luís
Silva, Ana
Pinto, José Rosa
Vidal, Ana
Pinheiro, Isabel
Costa, Maria José
Cabral, Henrique N
Ribeiro, Luís Tavares
Fonseca, Luís Cancela
Keywords: Águas Subterrâneas
Gestão
Biodiversidade
Sistemas Lagunares
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: IAH Irish Group
Abstract: The study of groundwater dependent ecosystems opened the opportunity to involve specialists of different areas of knowledge in order to obtain answers for complex interrelations between groundwater and the associated ecosystems. The actual study, carried out in two coastal lagoons of the Portuguese SW coast, showed the high dependency of the marine life and vegetation of the lagoons and associated streams discharging in the lagoons on the fresh water supply of these two lagoons and the high contribution they receive from groundwater in the dry period, which corresponds to more than half of each hydrologic year. Every year, the lagoons are artificially opened to the ocean for a few days to a few weeks, which dramatically changes the inside salinity. The sensitivity of these ecological niches is demonstrated by the strong dependence that some species that are more sensitive to high salinity waters show in relation to the entrance of freshwater resultant from the discharge of the phreatic aquifer of Sines sedimentary Basin. The great biodiversity of these lagoons and its precarious balance is only possible to preserve if the aquifer continue to act as a regulatory factor of the lagoon’s salinity. The equilibrium can be changed in the event of overexploitation of the phreatic aquifer, which is not at risk in the near future. In a scenario of climate change the lagoons will benefit from a slow increase in groundwater contribution, due to the rise of sea level, which will be accompanied by a rise in groundwater levels in the aquifer near the sea.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/20455
ISSN: 2009-227X (Printed)
2009-6151 (Online)
Type: article
Appears in Collections:CGE - Artigos em Livros de Actas/Proceedings

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