Monitoring the salt marsh vegetation and flora of the Baixo Vouga Lagunar (Ria of Aveiro, Portugal)

Abstract

Monitoring  the  salt  marsh  vegetation  and  flora  of  the  Baixo  Vouga  Lagunar  (Ria  of  Aveiro,  Portugal). The  transitional biogeographic character of the Ria de Aveiro lagoon area confers it a singular floristic richness, integrating plant communities typical for the Eurosiberian as well as Mediterranean Region. The implementation of the Agricultural Development Plan of the Lower Vouga area (PDAV) in the near future is expected to result in noticeable changes in the tidal submersion regime and a gradual reduction of salinity levels, which are determining ecological factors for many of the halophytic and helophytic plant communities. The present work pretends to contribute to a better  knowledge  of  the  local  vegetation  types  and,  thereby,  to  the  implementation  of  an  adequate monitoring  programme  for  detecting changes in the spatio-temporal vegetation patterns of the wetlands. With the objective to select the locations for the installation of permanent quadrats, the vegetation of the wetlands was described along 13 transects using a simplified Braun-Blanquet approach. A total of 24 local vegetation types were recognised, 23 of which were selected for the current monitoring programme.