Xtremeveggies - Halophyte cultivation using saline water and amended underused soils and sediments

Doutoramento em Engenharia Alimentar / Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de LisboaABSTRACT - The estuarine ecosystems are among the most productive, but also among the most threatened ecosystems. This PhD project arise as a response to two questions raised by society, which reflect two environmental problems in an estuarine context: the deposition of aquaculture sediments around the ponds, contributing to the degradation of a saltmarsh area in the Guadiana estuary; and an abandoned and degraded saltmarsh area, mainly due to the industrial activity, in the Tagus estuary. This thesis develops an answer to these two environmental issues based on Sustainable Development Goals: waste reutilisation to a circular economy, halt of biodiversity loss, develop agricultural practices to protect freshwater and contribute to the recovery of degraded areas. Sediments proprieties of aquaculture ponds in the Guadiana estuary and Fluvisol properties from the Tagus estuary were improved using organic and inorganic wastes from local activities: agriculture (substrate used in the strawberry crop, pruning wastes) and/or industries (distilleries, breweries), allowing reutilisation of these wastes that would be disposable. Contributing to the species and estuarine ecosystems conservation, the Technosols constructed with the sediments/Fluvisol permitted the cultivation of native plants, which contribute to the estuaries’ stabilisation, some of them endemics, threatened and/or have an economic potential: A. macrostachyum, L. algarvense, L. daveaui, e S. vera. Since these species are halophytes, high NaCl concentrations tolerant, they also were able to grow and develop under irrigation with water from the respective estuary (Guadiana or Tagus), being this methodology a freshwater protection cultivation technique. Altogether these measures may constitute the first step in the recovery of these degraded salt marsh areas in the Guadiana and Tagus estuariesRESUMO - Os ecossistemas estuarinos encontram-se entre os ecossistemas mais produtivos, mas também entre os mais ameaçados. Esta dissertação surge como resposta a duas questões apresentadas pela sociedade, que refletem dois problemas ambientais em contexto estuarino: a deposição de sedimentos de aquacultura na área adjacente aos tanques, contribuindo para a degradação de uma área de sapal no estuário do Guadiana; e uma área de sapal abandonada e degradada, sobretudo devido à antiga atividade industrial ali instalada, no estuário do Tejo. Esta tese desenvolve uma resposta a estas duas problemáticas ambientais, baseada nos objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável: reutilização de resíduos para uma economia circular, travar a perda de biodiversidade, desenvolver práticas agrícolas de proteção da água doce e contribuir para a recuperação de áreas degradadas. As propriedades dos sedimentos, provenientes dos tanques de aquacultura no estuário do Guadiana, e do Fluvissolo, proveniente do estuário do Tejo, foram melhoradas utilizando resíduos orgânicos e/ou inorgânicos, provenientes de atividades locais: agrícolas (substrato de cultura de morangueiro, podas de biomassa) e/ou industriais (destilarias, cervejarias), permitindo também a reutilização destes resíduos que de outra forma seriam descartados. Contribuindo para a conservação das espécies e dos ecossistemas estuarinos, os Tecnossolos construídos com os sedimentos/Fluvissolo e os resíduos orgânicos/inorgânicos, possibilitaram o cultivo de plantas nativas que contribuem para a estabilização dos estuários, e que são endémicas, ameaçadas e/ou têm um potencial económico: Arthocnemum macrostachyum (Moric.) Moris, Limonium algarvense Erben, Limonium daveaui Erben, e Suaeda vera Forssk. ex J. F. Gmel. Sendo estas espécies halófitas, tolerantes a elevada concentração de NaCl, as mesmas foram capazes de se desenvolver regadas com água proveniente do respetivo estuário (Guadiana ou Tejo), contribuindo assim para a proteção da água doce. No seu conjunto, estas medidas podem constituir um primeiro passo na recuperação destas áreas de sapal degradadas, no estuário do Guadiana e do TejoN/

Estudio de los taxa afines a Limonium vulgare Miller de marismas de Portugal Continental

Master de Biodiversidad: Conservacion y evolucion - Universitat de Valencia. Facultat de Ciencies Biologiques / Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThe genus Limonium Miller is a highly complex taxonomic group and a large number of micro-species has been described as a result of their reproductive strategies, sexual and/or apomixis. In Portugal, there are few and old studies on Limonium species, although the country has exceptional conditions for their presence, given that they inhabit rocky cliffs, beaches and salt-marshes. This study was intended to clarify the identity of ambiguous specimens related to taxon Limonium vulgare Miller, typical in the salt-marshes of Continental Portugal. We performed a comparative chorological, morphometric, karyological and reprodutive study between reference species L. vulgare, L. humile and L. narbonense deposited in herbaria in Spain, and herbarium specimens present Portuguese herbaria, and specimens collected along the Portuguese coast. All individuals collected or present in Portuguese herbaria inhabit in estuaries, except a population that was found on a beach (Praia da Veiga, Viana do Castelo). Roots obtained from the seeds collected in some of the individuals showed tetraploid or aneuploid tetraploid karyotypes with 2 n = 4x = 35, 36 or 38 chromosomes. Factorial correspondence analysis based on heterostyly reveal that except (Praia da Veiga, Viana do Castelo), most populations were distylic containing both the short-styled (“Thrum” flowers) and long-styled floral morphs (“Pin” flowers). Also this analysis reveal that the most frequent polen-stigma combinations present in the majority of populations were A and B, suggesting that cross-fertilization may be favored The principal component analysis allowed us to observe that vegetative traits, respectively the scape height, leaf length/width and branch angle are significantly correlated with each other. Reproductive traits like spike length, maximum distance between spikelets and bracts lenght are also correlated with each other. After discriminant analysis it was observed that most of the populations studied are mixed, with a predominance of L. narbonense and L. vulgare. Limonium humile is only present, in a small percentage, in populations of Aveiro and Tagus estuaries. The population of Praia da Veiga (Viana do Castelo), which shows proper characteristics, cannot be attributed to any of the three reference species. This study concluded that there are two new species for the flora of continental Portugal, L. humile and L. narbonense, and suggests that individuals from Praia da Veiga (Viana do Castelo) population could be another new species to Portuguese flora