What we found lurking in our abandoned quarry

We have been working to restore an abandoned quarry in the Northeast of Portugal. As part of that work we have undertaken some eDNA tests and the results are fascinating.

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💪 OUR PARTNERS IN THIS VIDEO
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⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:30 eDNA
1:43 Our results
5:00 Project Implications

🔎 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
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Paul de Toirões is an important area for landscape connectivity in northwest Portugal where nature is recovering from years of mining. The 300-hectare property boasts one of the largest water surface areas in the Greater Côa Valley, consisting of lagoons, canals, and ponds. Its diverse range of environments are connected by seasonal flooding which supports a variety of wildlife and vegetation. In an area managed by our partners, Rewilding Portugal, this project presents an excellent opportunity to expand its habitats and establish a stronghold for wilderness in the region. Starting with our first intervention, we aim to enlarge and diversify the habitats through earthworks.

[innovativeatavist]

Fisherman with wildlife management degree in progress and a LOT of field observation here!
Definitely do a net and creel survey before breaking ground.
And you may want to build extra barriers around already invaded waters in case there's an especially large rain event.
Also watch out for seeps between lake that are very close together. Some burrowing mammals and turtles will connect very close waterways. You'd be amazed how many fish fry will squeeeze through a teeny trickle to colonize new areas. Here in the southeast USA I watched unwanted crappie make their way through 3 earth berms with absolutely no obvious way into the next pond. Largemouth seem to have the same abilities.

[peperando]

I like to see new projects, but I also love to see how the projects that are already being worked on develop. Keep up the good work!

[Maelkes]

As someone based in the USA, it's interesting to see some of the native species here that have been introduced to europe and are invasive. Here, we often speak about invasive plants and animals from asia & Europe.

[t_s]

This might be the best YouTube channel I’ve ever seen!

[Abhi-wlyt]

I discovered your channel this week, and have been binging all the videos so far. It's great to see all the impact your work is making. Greetings and love from India!

[alexstuart]

Would it be possible to eradicate at least some of the invasives? And are you planning on it if so? Keep up the great work!

[Talenin]

Awesome to see the breakdown of what's living in the area. Great job, team!

[PaulCoxC]

Interesting to see the results, and important to have this evidence based foundation to our projects

[kendragjesdal]

Hello! I am a biology student in America and I happen to really like aquatic bugs. you probably already know this but the Eurycercus Lamellatus is probably known as seed shrimp. The Acanthoscyclops americanus is called cyclops shrimp and I believe it is considered invasive in Europe.

[mariogarofano]

Incredible timing with this video, as I literally just handed in my lab report for the eDNA analysis/Microsatellite analysis of a project for my Molecular Tools for Ecology and Evolution class!
Thank you for the wonderful rundown and for getting into detail with this series regarding the quarry, another absolutely fascinating project that you're handling wonderfully! I would love to one day work with you and I just might try to contact you for an internship sometime soon haha. You are doing an amazing job!

[llamalady]

becoming a member has been one of my favourite choises this year, super excited about all your projects! I wonder if you guys ever take on volunteers? This summer ill be spending 4 months on a through hike, but after that id love to do something meaningful with my life, and projects like these make me so excited!

[justana]

I'm studying Geoecology right now and this was sooo interesting! This is exactly the kind of work i want to do in the future!

[Studycase]

It is vids/projects like this that return some of my faith in humanity, that we are "More". The sentence speaks for itself. I humbly thank you for the work but more importantly the joy you find in that work. It's all about what motivates us. This, is GOOD. 🤗

[GmodErki]

I liked the methodology explanation, the superstar frog meme, the species graphics used in the drone shots. Really great effort here! If you keep this up you'll be the most influential biology Youtube channel in no-time!

[knighttaylor]

I freaking love how much mossy earth contributes to nature and the voice overs

[DeinosDinos]

Gonna be an idiot and randomly point out I saw Opilliones on the list which is literally just the huntsman spider, the ones with really round bodies and really long, thin legs. If you dig through the list a bit more I'm sure you'll find more of these really inverts all over! The water striders you showed, common as they may be, are still very interesting too!

[ronq]

You were focussing on invasives a lot. What kind of native fishes did you find?

[llamaliammm]

im actually so impressed that technology has advanced to the point u can find species from a habitat from water samples

[jimjimsauce]

as an american, it’s very often i hear about invasives from europe and asia. it was a weird feeling to hear our native species are invasives over there too! especially with the largemouth bass. i’m really not surprised crayfish are bad though! some real buggers

[AAliyahMya]

Love seeing the updates on projects over time!